Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Deserving reverence.
  • adjective Relating to or characteristic of the clergy; clerical.
  • adjective Used as a title and form of address for certain clerics in many Christian churches. In formal usage, preceded by the:
  • noun A cleric or minister. Used with the.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Worthy to be revered; worthy of reverence; entitled to veneration, esteem, or respect, by reason of one's character or sacred office, as a minister of religion; especially, deserving of respect or consideration on account of age; venerable.
  • Specifically, a title of respect given to clergymen or ecclesiastics: as, Reverend (or the Reverend) John Smith.
  • Of or pertaining to ecclesiastics, or to the clerical office or profession.
  • Reverent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective worthy of reverence or respect
  • noun a member of the Christian clergy

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective worthy of adoration or reverence
  • noun a title of respect for a clergyman
  • noun a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin reverendus, gerundive of reverērī, to revere; see revere.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin future passive participle reverendus, from deponent verb revereri, honor or revere.

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