This question already has an answer here:

I'm not talking about religion. Imagine certain Ancient Egyptian writing or old Chinese poem or phrase by Shakespeare, comment on life being very short or we being puppets in the theater of life. Some people seem to think that just because this is very old, than mere repetition of the phrase has a certain authority or importance or power above and beyond what some brilliant philosopher at present might say. There is a kind of glorification of it beyond the thought expressed, mere reason that it's old or very old. So these people constantly quote this or that ancient writing as if it's proof of veracity of certain view. Is there a word for these people or this act?

Any idea?

Edit: thank you, it's similar to the other question, consider this solved.

marked as duplicate by sumelic, Community Jun 27 '16 at 20:55



The item that is being honored could be said to be venerable:

: old and respected

To honor such an item is to venerate it. In the synonym discussion of venerate, Merriam-Webster offers:

VENERATE implies a holding as holy or sacrosanct because of character, association, or age.

So, a person that honors such an item could be called a venerator.

  • This probably won't do. Venerator doesn't carry the connotation of age that venerable does. It's almost always followed by a prepositional phrase with of giving the the thing admired, which thing need not be of long standing. – deadrat Jun 27 '16 at 21:01
  • @deadrat: The synonym discussion for venerate in M-W did offer a connotation of age, so I think venerator could offer a similar connotation. However I agree it is indeed not strongly linked like venerable. – jxh Jun 27 '16 at 21:07
