Venial \Ve"ni*al\, a. [OF. venial, F. v['e]niel, L. venialis,
from venia forgiveness, pardon, grace, favor, kindness; akin
to venerari to venerate. See Venerate.]
1. Capable of being forgiven; not heinous; excusable;
pardonable; as, a venial fault or transgression.
[1913 Webster]
So they do nothing, 't is a venial slip. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Allowed; permitted. [Obs.] "Permitting him the while
venial discourse unblamed." --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Venial sin (R. C. Theol.), a sin which weakens, but does
not wholly destroy, sanctifying grace, as do mortal, or
deadly, sins.
[1913 Webster] --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
venial
adj 1: warranting only temporal punishment; "venial sin" [syn: minor]
2: easily excused or forgiven; "a venial error" [syn: excusable,
forgivable]
WordNet (r) 2.0
27 Moby Thesaurus words for "venial":
admissible, allowable, condonable, defensible, dispensable,
excusable, exemptible, expiable, forgivable, harmless, inoffensive,
insignificant, justifiable, legitimate, minor, pardonable, petty,
reasonable, remissible, tolerable, tolerated, trifling, trivial,
unimportant, unobjectionable, vindicable, warrantable
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
excusable, forgivable, minor
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