veronica









veronica


noun (sometimes initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical.

  1. the image of the face of Christ, said in legend to have been miraculously impressed on the handkerchief or veil that St. Veronica gave to Him to wipe His face on the way to Calvary.
  2. the handkerchief or veil itself.
  3. Also called sudarium. any handkerchief, veil, or cloth bearing a representation of the face of Christ.

noun

  1. any of numerous plants belonging to the genus Veronica, of the figwort family, having opposite leaves and clusters of small flowers, as the speedwell.

noun

  1. (in bullfighting) a pass in which the matador keeps his feet and legs absolutely still while slowly swinging the open cape away from the charging bull.

noun

  1. a female given name.

noun

  1. any scrophulariaceous plant of the genus Veronica, esp the speedwells, of temperate and cold regions, having small blue, pink, or white flowers and flattened notched fruits

noun RC Church

  1. the representation of the face of Christ that, according to legend, was miraculously imprinted upon the headcloth that Saint Veronica offered him on his way to his crucifixion
  2. the cloth itself
  3. any similar representation of Christ’s face

noun

  1. bullfighting a pass in which the matador slowly swings the cape away from the charging bull

fem. proper name, a variant of Greek Berenike (see Berenice). The popular “Saint Veronica” (not in the Roman Martyrology) traditionally was a pious woman who wiped the face of Christ when he fell carrying the cross to Calvary. The image of his face remained on the cloth, and the “veil of Veronica” has been preserved in Rome from the 8c. Her popularity rose with the propagation of the Stations of the Cross. Some also identified her with the woman with the issue of blood, cured by Christ, as in the East this woman was identified from an early date by the name Berenike.

In sum, it seems likely that the story of Veronica is a delightful legend without any solid historical basis; that Veronica is a purely fictitious, not a historical character, and that the story was invented to explain the relic. It aroused great interest in the later Middle Ages in the general devotional context of increased concern with the humanity of Christ, especially the Holy Face, and the physical elements of his Passion. [David Hugh Farmer, “The Oxford Dictionary of Saints,” 1978]

Hence vernicle (mid-14c.) “picture of the face of Christ,” from Old French veronicle, variant of veronique.

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