to supplicate
- verb
- /ˈsʌplɪˌkeɪt/
- Formal
- Humbly, I supplicate your majesty and your glory that you deign to free this, your servant, from unclean spirits!
- supplicating hands
Examples
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As he knelt in prayer, he supplicated for peace in the world.
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I supplicate myself before you.
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Praying to you daily, supplicating you for my needs.
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In the old country we were taught as very young children that there's no shame in supplicating yourself when you respect someone.
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Finn stretched forth his hands as if supplicating and let them drop.
Fiction book (1994) -
Anthropologists used to say that magicians manipulate the supernatural while religious specialists, such as monks and priests, supplicate.
Academic text (1991) -
Humbly, I supplicate my king for mercy and guidance.
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Every day, I supplicate to God for strength in my struggles.
Synonyms
To request that someone do something or meet a requirement
To ask for something politely or formally
To beg someone urgently and humbly for something
Ask someone urgently and emotionally for something
Ask someone humbly for money or food, often in public
To tell someone you need support with a task or problem
To ask people for something, often in a formal or persistent way
To ask someone earnestly for something
To ask someone very seriously to do or not do something
Ask someone in a serious, emotional way to do something
Antonyms
How Humble
- Formal
- Formal
- Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
supplicate = plicate (opaque) = sup + plicate
The modern meaning 'to beg' is not derivable from 'sup-' + 'plicate' ('under-folded') and the base 'plicate' is rare, so learners cannot reliably infer the sense.
Etymology
Supplicate comes from the Latin supplicare, which meant 'to kneel' or 'to beg' and includes sub- 'under', so imagine someone kneeling with folded hands asking for help. So, to supplicate today means to humbly and earnestly ask or beg.