| / English Dictionary |
REVERENCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An act showing respect (especially a bow or curtsy)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("reverence" is a kind of...):
action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reverence"):
bow; bowing; obeisance (bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting)
curtsey; curtsy (bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A reverent mental attitude
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("reverence" is a kind of...):
attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)
Antonym:
irreverence (an irreverent mental attitude)
Derivation:
revere (love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol)
reverence (regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of)
reverent (feeling or showing profound respect or veneration)
reverential (feeling or manifesting veneration)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A feeling of profound respect for someone or something
Example:
his respect for the law bordered on veneration
Synonyms:
awe; fear; reverence; veneration
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("reverence" is a kind of...):
emotion (any strong feeling)
Derivation:
revere; reverence (regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of)
reverent (showing great reverence for god)
reverential (feeling or manifesting veneration)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of
Example:
We venerate genius
Synonyms:
fear; revere; reverence; venerate
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "reverence" is one way to...):
esteem; prise; prize; respect; value (regard highly; think much of)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reverence"):
worship (show devotion to (a deity))
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
reverence (a reverent mental attitude)
reverence (a feeling of profound respect for someone or something)
Context examples:
But her reverence for genius received a severe shock that night, and it took her some time to recover from the discovery that the great creatures were only men and women after all.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
His reverence for her, in that moment, was of the same order as religious awe and fervor.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A courtesy title of reverence, as for church dignitaries, officers of monasteries, monks, confessors, and especially priests.
(Father, NCI Thesaurus)
But I do not remember I gave you power to consent that any thing should be omitted, and much less that any thing should be inserted; therefore, as to the latter, I do here renounce every thing of that kind; particularly a paragraph about her majesty Queen Anne, of most pious and glorious memory; although I did reverence and esteem her more than any of human species.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Here are the precious relics, and, oh, I pray you that you will handle them softly and with reverence, else had I rather left my unworthy bones here by the wayside.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Your reverence need not be excited,” said Holmes, lighting a cigarette.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The reverence that I had for his grey head, was mingled with commiseration for his faith in those who were treacherous to him, and with resentment against those who injured him.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Indeed, I can assure you that a first folio of Shakespeare could not be treated with greater reverence than this relic has been since it came into my possession.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I saw plainly that he was surprised, but he never attempted to draw my secret from me; and although I loved him with a mixture of affection and reverence that knew no bounds, yet I could never persuade myself to confide in him that event which was so often present to my recollection, but which I feared the detail to another would only impress more deeply.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
She was woman, my kind, on my plane, and the delightful intimacy of kind, of man and woman, was possible, as well as the reverence and awe in which I knew I should always hold her.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
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