Venial

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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] -- {Ve"ni*al*ly}, adv. -- {Ve"ni*al*ness},
        n. --Bp. Hall.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  venial
       adj 1: warranting only temporal punishment; "venial sin" [syn: {minor}]
       2: easily excused or forgiven; "a venial error" [syn: {excusable},
           {forgivable}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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