supplication
/sʌplɪˈkeɪʃən/
supplication means an act of supplicating; a humble request. It carries an Arena rating of 1810, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, supplication ranks #586 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,307 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,346 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,657 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
supplication is pronounced /sʌplɪˈkeɪʃən/.
Why “supplication” is a great word
A humble and earnest request or prayer, especially to a deity. From the Middle English supplicacioun, from Old French supplication, from Latin supplicatio, supplicationem, from supplicare (“to kneel, beseech”), from sub- (“under”) + plicare (“to fold, bend”). First recorded in English 1350–1400. Unlike a “petition,” which is a formal, often written address to authority, or a “demand,” which stands upright with an expectation of compliance, supplication is the physical grammar of abasement. It is the knee bent on cold stone, the hands folded into a fragile origami, the forehead pressed to the earth in a posture of surrender. It is the human soul making itself small before the vastness it hopes is listening.
Etymology
From Middle English supplicacioun, supplication, from Old French supplication, from Latin supplicatio, supplicationem, from supplicare (“to supplicate”). By surface analysis, supplicate + -ion.
noun
- An act of supplicating; a humble request.e.g.“If Trump defies the Court, there is little to restrain him from acting as an autocrat, given the supplication of Republicans in Congress.” — 2025 April 10, Adam Serwer, “The Confrontation Between Trump and the Supreme Court Has Arrived”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2025:
- An act of supplicating; a humble request.; du'a', minor or private prayer performed individually.
- A prayer or entreaty to a god.
- In Ancient Rome, a solemn service or day decreed for giving formal thanks to the gods for victory, etc.
- The process by which a doctorate at Oxford university is officially requested after a thesis has been approved.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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