The Use of the Abbreviation Rev. in Modern English

Abstract

ITHOUT going into detail, perhaps a few observations concerning the use of the abbreviation Rev. in present-day English may be briefly noted. To treat the matter thoroughly would require exhaustive research. Early examples of this abbreviation (or of the word in unabbreviated form) may be found in the New English Dictionary. As an adjective it came into the language from French during the fifteenth century, the first recorded instance dating from 1449. In early use, says the N.E.D., whether abbreviated or not, it was used without the article before it. From the fifteenth century even into the eighteenth we find such phrases as Ryght reverende fader (1484), reverend Bishop Hooper (1642), Reverend Calvin (1656), Rev'rend Dean (1713), Right Sirs (1781), reverend sir (1820), etc. Even before 1700, however, forms with the article preceding Rev. came into use, and by 1800 the use of the article was the established custom. From that time to the present Rev. has regularly been preceded by the article, although usage without the article has never disappeared. The question of particular interest is whether or not the usage with the article is the one prevailing today. Handbooks on usage are practically unanimous in saying that the should always precede Rev. But these books may be out of date in this, as in many other points. Woolley's Handbook,' for example, not only says that Rev. should be preceded by the at all times, but also says that Rev. should be spelled out-a custom rarely followed except in most formal usage. In dealing with instances of contemporary practice, formal and informal usage must of course be distinguished. In strictly formal usage Rev. is spelled out and preceded by the article almost invariably. Informal usage is that of general practice, and is therefore of much greater interest. All that follows will deal with informal usage. Some handbooks, for example, Taintor and Munro's, say there is variation in usage, yet almost without exception give examples using only forms preceded by the article. In current newspapers and