deprecate, v.
(ˈdɛprɪkeɪt)
[f. L. dēprecāt-, ppl. stem of dēprecārī to pray (a thing) away, to ward off by praying, pray against, f. de- I. 2 + precārī to pray.]
1. trans. To pray against (evil); to pray for deliverance from; to seek to avert by prayer. arch.
| 1628 Earle Microcosm., Meddling Man (Arb.) 89 Wise men still deprecate these mens kindnesses. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows ii. §3. 135 The judgements which Salomon..earnestly deprecateth and prayeth against. 1633 Bp. Hall Medit. (1851) 153, I cannot deprecate thy rebuke: my sins call for correction: but I deprecate thine anger. 1778 R. Lowth Transl. Isaiah xlvii. 11 Evil shall come upon thee, which thou shalt not know how to deprecate. 1833 H. Martineau Three Ages ii. 47 While the rest of the nation were at church, deprecating God's judgements. |
† 2. intr. To pray (against). Obs. rare.
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 37 Where we are to deprecate..against dangers of waters, let us commemorate the saving of Noah in the flood. |
3. trans. To plead earnestly against; to express an earnest wish against (a proceeding); to express earnest disapproval of (a course, plan, purpose, etc.).
| 1641 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 133 Saint Paul undertaketh..that he shall return and deprecate his fault. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. xix. 385 Other accounts..whose verities not onely, but whose relations honest minds doe deprecate. 1659 Bp. Walton Consid. Considered v. §2 Cappellus..no where that I know affirms this, but rather deprecates is as a calumny. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews iv. vi, I believe..he'd behave so that nobody should deprecate what I had done. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 389, I cannot help deprecating the conduct of the other two anatomists. 1875 Ouseley Mus. Form xiii. 60 Such a method of proceeding is greatly to be deprecated. 1882 Times 5 Dec. 7 To deprecate panic is an excellent counsel in itself. |
† 4. To make prayer or supplication to, to beseech (a person). Obs.
| 1624 F. White Repl. Fisher Pref. 10 You haue libertie to deprecate his Gratious Maiestie to forget things past. 1715–20 Pope Iliad ix. 236 Much he advised them all, Ulysses most, To deprecate the chief, and save the host. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 11 ¶7 To deprecate the clouds lest sorrow should overwhelm us, is the cowardice of idleness. 1822 T. Taylor Apuleius 75 But the most iniquitous woman, falling at his knees, deprecated him as follows: Why, O my sone I beseech you, do you give [etc.]. |
† b. absol. To make supplication. Obs.
| 1625 Donne Serm. 24 Feb. (1626) 8 He falls vpon his face..and laments, and deprecates on their behalfe. |
† 5. To call down by prayer, invoke (evil). Obs.
| 1746 W. Horsley Fool (1748) I. No. 16. 114 Deprecating on unhappy Criminals, under Sentence of Death, all the Mischief they can think of. a 1790 Franklin Autobiog. 442 Upon the heads of these very mischievous men they deprecated no vengeance. |
Hence ˈdeprecated ppl. a., ˈdeprecating vbl. n.
| 1768 C. Shaw Monody vii. 61 Why..strike this deprecated blow? 1839 Times 11 July in Spirit Metropol. Conserv. Press (1840) I. 158 To persist in such a deprecated and odious innovation. |
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Add: [3.] b. More generally, to express disapproval of (a person, quality, etc.); to disparage or belittle. (Sometimes confused with depreciate.) Cf. self-deprecation, etc. s.v. self-.
Widely regarded as incorrect, though found in the work of established writers.
| 1897 Daily News 8 Jan. 6/3 It looks rather an attempt to deprecate distinguished commanders of the Commonwealth to please Restoration Royalists. 1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse 73 He was disposed to slur that comfort over, to deprecate it. 1960 C. S. Lewis Stud. in Words i. 18 We tell our pupils that deprecate does not mean depreciate or that immorality does not mean simply lechery because these words are beginning to mean just those things. 1965 M. Frayn Tin Men xv. 80 Trying to shrink into himself, as if to deprecate..his authority and to become as other men. |