Venerable

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Capable of being venerated; worthy of veneration or reverence; deserving of honor and respect; -- generally implying an advanced age; as, a venerable magistrate; a venerable parent. He was a man of eternal self-sacrifice, and that is always venerable. De Quincey. Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. D. Webster.

2. Rendered sacred by religious or other associations; that should be regarded with awe and treated with reverence; as, the venerable walls of a temple or a church.