Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a clergyman; also as a term of address.

[c.1850		G. Thompson Anna Mowbray 13: The Rev. saint strutted off, muttering something about the impudence of the lower orders].
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 12/3: Had that big Adelaide divorce-suit gone before either of the other two S.A. Judges, the lady and her rev. tame-cat might have had a ‘possible.’ But Judge Boucaut, who took it, is too cynical to swallow many yarns of platonic canoodling.
1912		D. Lowrie My Life in Prison 110: At that time the resident chaplain was the ‘Rev’.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 131: A rumour in knowledgable circles that the Rev was subject to hayfever.
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 488: Rev. is unbooted.
1966		M. Rumaker Exit 3 and Other Stories 117: We’ll call you Reverend. Rev, for short.
1991		J. Osborne Déjàvu Act I: The Rev. Ted now speaks with the tongue of the horrible Brit.
1999		Guardian Guide 4–10 Sept. 5: The Rev and his growing flock.

2. (US prison) a religious inmate.

2000

Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Rev: A religious prisoner.