Etymograph

English

reverence

Reverence comes from Latin revereor ‘to stand in awe, respect, revere’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to cover, heed, notice’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-1‘to cover, heed, notice’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevereor1‘to stand in awe, respect, revere’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reverence1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reverence1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599reverence1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English reverence
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “Thou hast so wrong'd mine innocent child and me…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-Wiktionary, English reverence‘to cover, heed, notice’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevereorWiktionary, English reverence‘to stand in awe, respect, revere’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reverenceWiktionary, English reverence
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reverenceWiktionary, English reverence
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599reverenceWiktionary, English reverence. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “Thou hast so wrong'd mine innocent child and me…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to cover, heed, notice’

wear, guard, ward, con, garage, regard, warn, worm, garrison, optic, weir, beware, panorama, ware, verge, wry, prosaic, guaranty, vermin, diorama, vermilion, milliner, varmint, vermiculite, vermeil, vermicelli, 69 more

Today it means

noun Veneration; profound awe and respect, normally in a sacred context.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “reverence”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wer- / reverence

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