venial

[vee-nee-uhl, veen-yuhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR venial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

able to be forgiven or pardoned; not seriously wrong, as a sin (opposed to mortal).

excusable; trifling; minor: a venial error; a venial offense.

Origin of venial

1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin veniālis, equivalent to Latin veni(a) grace, favor, indulgence (akin to venus; see venerate, Venus) + -ālis -al¹

Related formsve·ni·al·i·ty, ve·ni·al·ness, nounve·ni·al·ly, adverbun·ve·ni·al, adjectiveun·ve·ni·al·ly, adverbun·ve·ni·al·ness, nounun·ve·ni·al·i·ty, noun

Can be confusedvenal venial

Synonyms for venial

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR venial ON THESAURUS.COM

2. slight, pardonable, forgivable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for venial

allowable, defensible, excusable, explainable, forgivable, justifiable, minor, okay, permissible, slight, tolerable, trivial, understandable

Examples from the Web for venial

Contemporary Examples of venial

The SEC charging Goldman with securities fraud is like the Vatican charging a priest with venial sin.
The Fallacy of 'Fraud'
Alan M. Dershowitz
April 17, 2010

Historical Examples of venial

Now that she was caught, she no longer thought of her offense as venial.
Hooking Watermelons
Edward Bellamy
Those who keep the fast "will be pardoned all their past venial sins."
The Faith of Islam
Edward Sell
Things must not be done in him which are venial in the week-day classes.
The Way of All Flesh
Samuel Butler
Yet it appeared to me that we were all, at Bly, sufficiently sacrificed to make that venial.
The Turn of the Screw
Henry James
The Bibliotaph could not be convinced that his sin of autograph collecting was not venial.
The Bibliotaph
Leon H. Vincent

British Dictionary definitions for venial

venial

adjective

easily excused or forgivena venial error

Derived Formsveniality (ˌviːnɪ'ælɪtɪ), nounvenially, adverb

Word Origin for venial

C13: via Old French from Late Latin veniālis, from Latin venia forgiveness; related to Latin venus love

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for venial

adj.

c.1300, from Old French venial, from Latin venialis "pardonable," from venia "forgiveness, indulgence, pardon," related to venus "sexual love, desire" (see Venus).