venerable

Forms

venerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural venerables)^[1] Alfonso X's Estoria de España has the Latinising form venerabile.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin venerābilis (“worthy of reverence”).^[4][1][5] The Latin adjective is formed from veneror (“to revere, worship”) with the suffix -bilis.^[6][1] Corominas and DICCA-XV list it as a derivative of venerar, though it is recorded earlier than the verb.^[7][8]

The same Latin word gave Catalan venerable, Portuguese venerável, French vénérable and Italian venerabile.^[9][10][5]

The Latin verb is built on venus (“desire, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁-os (“desire”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's Estoria de España (1270–1284) praises the prince Alfonso as principe venerabile, worthy of reverence.^[2] The form venerable follows in a translation of Jacobo de Vitriaco's history of Jerusalem (after 1350), of lugares santos & venerables “holy and venerable places”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Corominas finds the adjective in Santillana, about 1440, and notes that venerable and veneración are older and commoner than the verb.^[7][13] In 1591 Percyvall translates it “worshipful”.^[14] Covarrubias calls it a title once given as an honour.^[15]

Autoridades has three senses: worthy of veneration, an epithet of persons of known virtue, and a title of churchmen of rank, as when the king wrote to prelates Venerable y devoto.^[16] Domínguez adds its use as a masculine noun for the president of some Masonic lodges.^[17] The Academy's 1869 edition adds the first title granted in Rome to those who die with a reputation for holiness.^[18] Moliner notes its frequent use for the noble look of old people.^[19]

Timeline

• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's Estoria de España has venerabile.^[2]
• after 1350 – the form venerables in a translation of the Historia de Jerusalem abreviada.^[12]
• c. 1440 – Santillana, the date of Corominas.^[7][13]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin uenerabilis as cosa de onrar.^[8]
• 1575 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[20]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records it as a title of honour.^[15]
• 1739 – Autoridades enters three senses, among them the title of prelates.^[16]
• 1846–1847 – Domínguez records the noun for the head of a Masonic lodge.^[17]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the first title on the way to beatification.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Worthy of veneration (veneración) and respect: un sabio venerable.^[4][1][19]
2. Used as an epithet of persons of known virtue.^[4]
3. Used as a title for churchmen holding a prelacy or high dignity.^[4]
4. (Catholicism) The first title the Church grants to someone who died with a reputation for holiness, before beato and santo; also as a noun.^[4][19]

Noun

1. (freemasonry) The master who presides over a Masonic lodge (logia).^[17][21]

Related words

• venerar
• veneración
• Latin venerābilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. venerable
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. venerable
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. venerable
5. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 827
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 769
8. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. venerable
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. venerable
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. venerável
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. venerable
13. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. venerar
14. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 229
15. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1378
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 444
17. ^ a b c Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1715
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 785
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. venerable
20. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. venerable
21. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. venerable