REVERENCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Reverence

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/rˈɛvərəns/ Listen

noun

Reverence n.

1.

Profound respect and esteem mingled with fear and affection, as for a holy being or place; the disposition to revere; veneration. "If thou be poor, farewell thy reverence." "Reverence, which is the synthesis of love and fear." "When discords, and quarrels, and factions, are carried openly and audaciously, it is a sign the reverence of government islost." Note: Formerly, as in Chaucer, reverence denoted "respect" "honor", without awe or fear.

2.

The act of revering; a token of respect or veneration; an obeisance. "Make twenty reverences upon receiving... about twopence." "And each of them doeth all his diligence To do unto the feast reverence."

3.

That which deserves or exacts manifestations of reverence; reverend character; dignity; state. "I am forced to lay my reverence by."

4.

A person entitled to be revered; a title applied to priests or other ministers with the pronouns his or your; sometimes poetically to a father.

Save your reverence, Saving your reverence, an apologetical phrase for an unseemly expression made in the presence of a priest or clergyman.

Sir reverence, a contracted form of Save your reverence. "Such a one as a man may not speak of, without he say. "Sir reverence.""

To do reverence, to show reverence or honor; to perform an act of reverence. "Now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence."

Synonyms: Awe; honor; veneration; adoration; dread. Awe, Reverence, Dread, Veneration. Reverence is a strong sentiment of respect and esteem, sometimes mingled slightly with fear; as, reverence for the divine law. Awe is a mixed feeling of sublimity and dread in view of something great or terrible, sublime or sacred; as, awe at the divine presence. It does not necessarily imply love. Dread is an anxious fear in view of an impending evil; as, dread of punishment. Veneration is reverence in its strongest manifestations. It is the highest emotion we can exercise toward human beings. Exalted and noble objects produce reverence; terrific and threatening objects awaken dread; a sense of the divine presence fills us with awe; a union of wisdom and virtue in one who is advanced in years inspires us with veneration.

verb

Reverence v. t. (past & past part. reverenced; pres. part. reverencing) To regard or treat with reverence; to regard with respect and affection mingled with fear; to venerate. "Let... the wife see that she reverence her husband." "Those that I reverence those I fear, the wise."

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Etymology of 'Reverence'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Reverence" Quotes from Famous Books

... hardship. Like David of old, he had sung them on the mountainside, and they had been as a guide unto his feet, a lamp unto his eyes. He needed no book and no spectacles to enable him to join his note to the strain. Margot looked at him with a thrill of understanding and reverence. A saint of God, a lowly dweller on earth, for whom was waiting one of the "higher" places ...

— Big Game - A Story for Girls • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... descriptions of the British sovereign, to be found in Cowell's curious book, entitled "The Interpreter." The reader may further trace the modern genius of Blackstone, with an awful reverence, dignifying the venerable nonsense—and the commentator on Blackstone sometimes labouring to explain the explanations of his master; so obscure, so abstract, and so delicate is the phantom which our ancient lawyers conjured up, and ...

— Literary Character of Men of Genius - Drawn from Their Own Feelings and Confessions • Isaac D'Israeli

... events of the past few days have so unnerved me that I have fallen behind in my diary. I must try to catch up, for what would posterity do should the record of my inspiring career in the service not be faithfully recorded for them to read with reverence and amazement in days ...

— Biltmore Oswald - The Diary of a Hapless Recruit • J. Thorne Smith, Jr.

... questions with a jeer. I am amused by the naivete with which I used in my youth to exaggerate the value of renown and of the exceptional position which celebrities are supposed to enjoy. I am famous, my name is pronounced with reverence, my portrait has been both in the Niva and in the Illustrated News of the World; I have read my biography even in a German magazine. And what of all that? Here I am sitting utterly alone in a strange town, on a strange ...

— The Wife and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov

... doth them good, uncle, that men must make courtesy to them and salute them with reverence and stand bareheaded before them, or unto some of them ...

— Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation - With Modifications To Obsolete Language By Monica Stevens • Thomas More

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