Very?

[Flay]

"The Very Reverend." Apparently it indicates a degree of seniority and responsibility.

But where did very come from?

Veritas? Verified?

I must get out more...

[ardcarp]

It's slightly less than 'Most' as in....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Reverend

I think Most High is possibly reserved for the deity him/herself.

[Flay]

Is "very" used in any other titular setting?

[cloughie]

Is "very" used in any other titular setting?

Only perhaps by Ray Noble in 1934!

[Pulcinella]

Here in York we have the situation where the Dean (normally a Very Reverend) was already a bishop (albeit a suffragan rather than diocesan one) when he was appointed, and hence a Right Reverend, which he has continued to be.
How likely is that?
Not very!

[Pulcinella]

Is "very" used in any other titular setting?

You can have a Very light, I suppose.

[Count Boso]

"The Very Reverend." Apparently it indicates a degree of seniority and responsibility.

But where did very come from?

Veritas? Verified?

I must get out more...

Presumably it means 'true' (adj), Nicene Creed 'very God of very God', or 'truly' (adverb intensive). Like vrai, vero. Why it became attached to some specific Anglican dignitary, I cannot even guess. I suppose 'right' used adverbially can also just be an intensive, though again, why Right is higher than Very is not one for me to answer.

[vinteuil]

.


... or perhaps 'very' just means 'very' - cf French 'Très révérend père', Latin 'reverendissime pater'


.

[Count Boso]

... or perhaps 'very' just means 'very' - cf French 'Très révérend père', Latin 'reverendissime pater'

Interesting digression. If we say 'very' (veray parfit gentil knight) seemingly from French vrai, why do the French say très not vrai or vraiment? As it appears (I googled) très is from Latin 'trans' in its meaning of 'beyond', does that explain the modern intensive use of 'beyond'? The Beyond Reverend Mr X, Beyondest of his Kind. Yea.

[Serial_Apologist]

The vicar at one church my parents attended, who was known for swearing a lot, was nicknamed The Very Irreverand ...

[Flay]

The vicar at one church my parents attended, who was known for swearing a lot, was nicknamed The Very Irreverand ...

He's a very naughty boy...

[Serial_Apologist]

He's a very naughty boy...

When I first lived in Bristol, I got to learn about the L which many Bristolians were given to adding to words ending -o or -a, after hearing a couple announcing that as their pre-Christmas treat, they were going to a performance of Handel's Missile in the cathedral!

[ardcarp]

seemingly from French vrai, why do the French say très not vrai or vraiment?

The English word 'very' has a slightly archaic usage meaning roughly 'true'. Surely the French word 'vrai' means 'true' rather than 'very', as in Oui, c'est vrai.

[ardcarp]

Ah. So you lived in the Bristol Aerial! The port of Bristol was, IIRC, Bristow before the locals got their tongues around it.....

[Flay]

Ah...

... Bristow