1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Venerable  \Ven"er*a*ble\,  a.  [L.  venerabilis:  cf  F. 
  v['e]n['e]rable.] 
  1.  Capable  of  being  venerated;  worthy  of  veneration  or 
  reverence;  deserving  of  honor  and  respect;  --  generally 
  implying  an  advanced  age;  as  a  venerable  magistrate;  a 
  venerable  parent. 
 
  He  was  a  man  of  eternal  self-sacrifice,  and  that  is 
  always  venerable.  --De  Quincey. 
 
  Venerable  men!  you  have  come  down  to  us  from  a 
  former  generation.  --D.  Webster. 
 
  2.  Rendered  sacred  by  religious  or  other  associations;  that 
  should  be  regarded  with  awe  and  treated  with  reverence; 
  as  the  venerable  walls  of  a  temple  or  a  church. 
 
  Note:  This  word  is  employed  in  the  Church  of  England  as  a 
  title  for  an  archdeacon.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
  venerable  is  applied  to  those  who  have  attained  to  the 
  lowest  of  the  three  recognized  degrees  of  sanctity,  but 
  are  not  among  the  beatified,  nor  the  canonized.  -- 
  {Ven"er*a*ble*ness},  n.  --  {Ven"er*a*bly},  adv 

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