reverence

reverence

See also: révérence

English

Etymology

From Middle English reverence (noun) and reverencen (verb), from Old French reverence and Latin reverentia, from Latin revereor (“I stand in awe, respect, revere”), from re- + vereor, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover, heed, notice”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛv.ə.ɹəns/, /ˈɹɛv.ɹəns/
• Hyphenation: rev‧er‧ence

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvɹəns

Noun

reverence (countable and uncountable, plural reverences)

1. Veneration; profound awe and respect, normally in a sacred context.
2. An act of showing respect, such as a bow.
   • August 2, 1758, Oliver Goldsmith, A Letter from a Traveller

     Make twenty reverences upon receiving […] about twopence.

3. The state of being revered.
   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Seditions and Troubles”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:

     When discords, and quarrels, and factions, are carried openly and audaciously, it is a sign the reverence of government is lost.

4. A form of address for some members of the clergy.

   your reverence

5. That which deserves or exacts manifestations of reverence; reverend character; dignity; state.
   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:

     Thou hast so wrong'd mine innocent child and me
     That I am forced to lay my reverence by.

Antonyms

• contempt
• blasphemy
• profanity

Derived terms

• reverent (a)
• revere (v)
• reverently (adv)
• save-reverence, sir-reverence, saving your reverence

Translations

veneration; profound awe and respect

Bulgarian: почит (bg) f (počit), уважение (bg) n (uvaženie) Catalan: reverència (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: verering (nl), respect (nl), eerbied (nl) Finnish: kunnioitus (fi); jumalanpelko (fear of God) Galician: reverencia f German: Ehrfurcht (de) f, Bewunderung (de) f, Verehrung (de) f, Hochachtung (de) f Greek: Ancient: ἄγος n (ágos), σέβας n (sébas) Gujarati: આદર m (ādar), માન (gu) m (mān) Hindi: आदर (hi) m (ādar), मान (hi) m (mān), अदब (hi) m (adab), सत्कार (hi) m (satkār), इज़्ज़त f (izzat) Irish: urramacht f, urraim f, oirmhidin f, ardmheas m, ómós m Italian: riverenza (it) f Japanese: 崇敬 (ja) (sūkei) Latin: reverentia m Norwegian: Bokmål: ærefrykt (no) m or f, ærbødighet (no) m or f Old Norse: heiðsæi Polish: rewerencja (pl) f Portuguese: deferência (pt) f, reverência (pt) Punjabi: ਅਦਬ (pa) m (adab), ਸਤਕਾਰ (pa) m (satkār) Russian: почита́ние (ru) n (počitánije), благогове́ние (ru) n (blagogovénije) Sanskrit: भजन (sa) n (bhajana), भक्ति (sa) f (bhakti) Spanish: reverencia (es) f, veneración (es) f Swedish: vördnad (sv) Tagalog: pakundangan Tocharian B: yarke, yärṣalñe Urdu: احترام‎ m (ehterām)

act of showing respect

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: kunnioituksen osoitus Galician: reverencia f German: Ehrerbietung (de) f, Reverenz (de) f Latin: reverentia f Norwegian: Bokmål: akt (no) m Portuguese: reverência (pt) f Russian: реверанс (ru) m (reverans)

state of being revered

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: kunnioitettavuus (fi) Irish: urramacht f, urraim f Norwegian: Bokmål: ærefrykt (no) m or f, ærbødighet (no) m or f Russian: please add this translation if you can

form of address

Bulgarian: преподобие n (prepodobie) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: pyhyys (fi), ylhäisyys (fi) Galician: reverencia f German: Reverenz (de) f Irish: oirmhinneach m Norwegian: Bokmål: ærbødighet (no) m or f Russian: преподобие (ru) n (prepodobije)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: révérence (fr) Malayalam: ആരാധന (ml) (ārādhana) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: страхопоштовање n Roman: strahopoštovanje (sh) n Telugu: ఆరాధన (te) (ārādhana)

Verb

reverence (third-person singular simple present reverences, present participle reverencing, simple past and past participle reverenced)

1. (transitive) To show or feel reverence to.

   Synonyms: honour, venerate

Translations

to show reverence

Bulgarian: почитам (bg) (počitam) Finnish: kunnioittaa (fi), osoittaa kunnioitusta Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (aistan), 𐌲𐌰𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (gaaistan) Latin: revereor Old Norse: drýgja heiðsæi

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Middle French

Noun

reverence f (usually uncountable, plural reverences)

1. respect