venerable (adj) - deserving or commanding profound respect due to age, wisdom, dignity, or holiness [ven-er-uh-buhl]
BREAKDOWN: VENER- (to worship) + -ABLE (able to be)
venerate means to hold in deep respect; to honor and revere
veneration is a feeling of profound respect inspired by age, wisdom, dignity, or holiness
See also: Visiting Venus
“Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.” —Marcus Tullius Cicero
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So interesting! Once again, Mike Bergin's sent me down an etymological rabbit hole -- this time, to uncover the roots of the Italian word for "Friday," "venerdì." Seeing the first part mean worship and the second, of course, similar to "day," I thought at first it might be the influence of Islam (Muslims worship on Fridays) on Italy, where medieval Muslims and Christians traded. No such multicultural luck. It seems the root of "venerdì" is much older, going all the way back to "pagan" times when Venus was venerated -- and her day was Friday! See https://www.wordsense.eu/venerdì/ . Thanks, Mike, for inspiring me to learn the other Greco-Roman gods who inspired the names of the days in Latin and, eventually, Italian (https://www.wordsense.eu/dies_Veneris/#Latin)! I've spoken Romance languages for 35 years and never learned this before!!!