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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Reverence

Rév'er-ence, n.

noun

n. [Fr. révérence, Pr. reverencia, reverensa, Sp. & Pg. reverencia, It. reverenzia, reverenza, riverenzia, riverenza, Lat. reverentia. See REVERENT.] 1. The continued manifestation of fear mingled with respect and esteem; veneration. “Reverence, which is the synthesis of love and fear.” Coleridge. When quarrels and factions are carried openly, it is a sign that the reverence of government is lost. Bacon. 2. An act of revering; a token of respect or veneration. Toward him they bend, With awful reverence prone. Milton. 3. The state of being reverent; a disposition to venerate; also, reverend character; dignity. I am forced to lay my reverence by. Shak. 4. A person entitled to be revered;—a title applied to priests or ministers; sometimes poetically to a father. Shak. To do reverence, to show reverence; to perform an act of reverence. Now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence. Shak. Syn. — Awe; honor; veneration; adoration. See AWE.

Rēv'er-ence, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. REVERENCED (rēv'-er-enst); p. pr. & vb. n. REVERENCING.] To regard with reverence; to regard with fear mingled with respect and affection. Let . . . the wife see that she reverence her husband. Eph. v. 33. Those that I reverence, those I fear—the wise. Shak.