reverent

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English reverent,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin reverēns (“respectful, deferential”),^[5][3][6][7] the present participle of revereor (“to stand in awe of, revere”),^[5][8][2][7] formed from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix, and vereor (“to fear, respect”),^[8][3] from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to perceive, watch out for”).^[8][3] The OED adds that the older senses, equal to reverend, probably follow or come from Anglo-Norman and Middle French reverent, a variant of reverend;^[5] the Anglo-Norman form is recorded from 1298, meaning venerable.^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged likewise calls that sense an alteration of the Middle French word under Latin influence,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford also compares Medieval Latin reverentissimus (“most reverend”), used of bishops.^[10][5] According to the OED, the overlap in meaning suggests that reverent and reverend were not clearly told apart at first.^[5] The Latin participle has parallels in Spanish reverente, Portuguese reverente and Italian riverente.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Feeling or showing deep respect: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[5] Etymonline puts the senses the other way round, with "inspiring respect, reverend" in the late 14th century and "deeply respectful" only in the late 15th.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning the adjective overlapped with reverend: from 1398 it was a respectful epithet of the clergy,^[5] and further uses equal to reverend appear about 1400, in manuscripts of Chaucer's Boethius and Shipman's Tale.^[5] Etymonline calls this older sense common from the 14th to the 17th century,^[8] and the OED and the Shorter Oxford mark it as now rare.^[5][10] The sense "respectful" is the one that survived: Johnson (1755) gave "humble; expressing submission; testifying veneration", with a quotation from Milton's Paradise Lost.^[11] A short-lived verb reverent, to show reverence to, is recorded from 1565 to 1586, perhaps by confusion with reverence.^[5] In the American South and South Midland, the word was also used from 1837 of whiskey or other drink taken undiluted, and so figuratively for "pure, genuine".^[5]

Timeline

• before 1382 – feeling or showing deep respect.^[5]
• 1398 – a respectful epithet of the clergy, equal to reverend.^[5]
• 1565 – verb, to show reverence to (last recorded 1586).^[5]
• 1652 – followed by of, respectful of something.^[5]
• 1837 – in the southern United States, of whiskey, undiluted.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Feeling or showing deep respect or veneration: The visitors stood in reverent silence by the grave.^[12][2][5]
2. (US, regional) Of whiskey or other drink, undiluted; figuratively, pure or genuine.^[5][2]
3. (rare) The same as reverend; worthy of respect.^[5][10][2]

Word family

• reverently
• reverentness
• unreverent

Related words

• irreverent
• revere
• reverence
• reverential
• reverend

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins