venerabilityn.
/ˌvɛn(ə)rəˈbɪlᵻti/, U.S. /ˌvɛn(ə)rəˈbɪlᵻdi/ 1. The quality of being venerable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > reverence > quality of inspiring reverence > [noun]
reverentness1584
venerability1664
venerableness1681
venerance1884
1664 H. More Antidote Idolatry viii. 93 The Images have according to the excellency and venerability of their Proto~types, some Latria [etc.].
1805 R. P. Knight Princ. Taste (ed. 2) ii. ii. 161 This air of venerability (which belongs to the sublime, and not to the beautiful).
1826 Blackwood's Mag. 19 388 [They] have lost the loveliness of youth, without having gained the venerability of age.
a1849 E. A. Poe Wks. (1864) III. 405 Far be it from us..to dwell irreverently on matters which have venerability.
1904 Athenæum 24 Dec. 886/1 Its conventions are..as much a part of its venerability as the trappings of the Lord Mayor's Show.
2. Employed as a form of address to an ecclesiastic. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun] > address or title of
his reverencea1438
your reverence?a1440
fathershipa1500
dompnea1536
domine1566
reverendship1609
Revd1670
rookship1710
brother1741
venerability1843
Pfarrer1844
Rev.1862
reverend1869
1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain I. v. 86 I lived in the family of the Countess **, at Cintra, when your venerability was her spiritual guide.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1664