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rev·er·end

(rĕvər-ənd)

adj.

1. Deserving reverence.

2. Relating to or characteristic of the clergy; clerical.

3. Reverend Abbr. Rev. Used as a title and form of address for certain clerics in many Christian churches. In formal usage, preceded by the: the Reverend Jane Doe; Reverend John Jones.

n.
Informal

A cleric or minister. Used with the.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin reverendus, gerundive of reverērī, to revere; see REVERE¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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