REV'ERENCE, n. L. reverentia.
1. Fear mingled with respect and esteem veneration.
When quarrels and factions are carried openly, it is a sign that the reverence of government is lost.
The fear acceptable to God, is a filial fear, an awful reverence of the divine nature, proceeding from a just esteem of his perfections, which produces in us an inclination to his service and an unwillingness to offend him.
Reverence is nearly equivalent to veneration, but expresses something less of the same emotion. It differs from awe, which is an emotion compounded of fear, dread or terror, with admiration of something great, but not necessarily implying love or affection. We feel reverence for a parent, and for an upright magistrate, but we stand in awe of a tyrant. This distinction may not always be observed.
2. An act of respect or obeisance a bow or courtesy. 2 Samuel 9 .
3. A title of the clergy.
4. A poetical title of a father.
REV'ERENCE, To regard with reverence to regard with fear mingled with respect and affection. We reverence superiors for their age, their authority and their virtues. We ought to reverence parents and upright judges and magistrates. We ought to reverence the Supreme Being, his word and his ordinances.
Those that I reverence, those I fear, the wise.
They will reverence my son. Matthew 21 .
Let the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5 .