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venial

[ vee-nee-uhl, veen-yuhl ]
/ Ėˆvi ni əl, Ėˆvin yəl /
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See synonyms for: venial / veniality 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.
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Origin of venial

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

OTHER WORDS FROM venial

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH venial

venal, venial

Words nearby venial

venge, vengeance, vengeful, V-engine, veni-, venial, venial sin, Venice, venin, venipuncture, venire facias
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to venial

allowable, all right, defensible, excusable, explainable, forgivable, justifiable, minor, not too bad, okay, permissible, slight, tolerable, trivial, understandable

How to use venial in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for venial

venial
/ (ĖˆviĖnÉŖəl) /
adjective
easily excused or forgivena venial error

Derived forms of venial

veniality (ĖŒviĖnÉŖ'ƦlÉŖtÉŖ), 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 Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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