supplication, n.
(sʌplɪˈkeɪʃən)
Also 5 supl-.
[a. OF. (mod.F.) supplication (= It. supplicazione, Sp. suplicacion, Pg. supplica{cced}ão), ad. L. supplicātio, -ōnem, n. of action f. supplicāre to supplicate.]
The action, or an act, of supplicating; humble or earnest petition or entreaty.
| 1384 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 36 At the supplicacion of the Mayre Sherefs and Communalyte of the cite of London to vs mekely Imade. c 1399 Chaucer Purse 26 Ye that mowen alle myn harme amende Haue mynde vpon my supplicacion. 1417 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 58 Hee dayly made suplication to have peace. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 227 His moder and his wife..made a supplicacion to hym for the savegarde of the cite. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. v. cxxxi. (1811) 114 He..ordeyned such meanes as byllys of supplicacion,..that the causes and matiers of poore men myght come to his knowlege. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 80 They made humble supplication to the Admirall. 1671 Milton Samson 1459, I have attempted..the Lords..With supplication prone and Fathers tears To accept of ransom for my Son. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. (1787) II. 94 Peace was at length granted to their humble supplications. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. III. 475 Pathetic earnestness of supplication. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. II. viii. 301 In a moment the noise and bravado..was hushed into a supplication for forgiveness. |
b. A written or formal petition. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 352 Whanne I this Supplicacioun..Hadde after min entente write Unto Cupide and to Venus. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xiv. (1885) 143 Þat all supplicacions wich shalbe made to þe kynge..be sende to þe..counsell. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 90 Schir patrick gray..passit haistelie with the said wreitting and supplicatioun of the kingis to the erle of douglas. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xiii. 78 Whats heere? ‘The humble supplication of Don Bazulto for his murdred Sonne.’ 1606 Dekker Newes fr. Hell Wks. (Grosart) II. 91 Great wagers were layd..that when the Supplication was sent, it would not be receyued; or if receyued, it would not be read ouer. 1650 [see supplicant n.]. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxx, A paper, termed a Remonstrance and Supplication. 1822 ― Nigel iii, To have the Supplication put into his Majesty's own hands. |
c. (A) humble prayer addressed to God (or a deity); chiefly pl., esp. in phr. prayers and supplications; spec. the petitions for special blessings in litanies.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xiii. 46 Bifore the aulters thei offred sacrifices with grete supplycacyons and prayers. 1526 Tindale Acts i. 14 These all continued with one acorde in prayer and supplicacion. ― 1 Tim. ii. 1 That..prayeers, supplicacions, peticions, and gevynge of thankes be had for all men. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 The sayd Moyses..made supplicacyon to God. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion ad fin., Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplicacions and praiers. Ibid., Litany ad fin., With one accorde to make our comune supplicacions unto thee. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §6. 154, I cannot see one say his Prayers, but in stead of imitating him, I fall into a supplication for him. 1657 Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer 100 These Collects after the Letany, though the matter of them hath been prayed for before particularly in the Supplications foregoing [etc.]. 1663 Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxv. (1687) 278 In devout supplications to Jesus. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. §27. 455 We conclude, that this Kyrie Eleeson, or Domine Miserere, in Arrianus, was a Pagan Litany or Supplication to the Supreme God. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam x. xxvi, Each among the train To his own Idol lifts his supplications vain. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. i. i, The churches resounded with supplications and groans. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 696/1 From an early period the special written litanies of the various churches all showed the common features which are now regarded as essential to a litany, in as far as they consisted of (1) invocations, (2) deprecations, (3) intercessions, (4) supplications. |
d. Rom. Antiq. A religious solemnity decreed on the occasion of some important public event, esp. in thanksgiving for victory.
| 1606 Holland Sueton. 10 By reason that his affaires sped well..hee obtained in regard thereof solemne Supplications both oftner, and to hold more daies than ever any man did (before himselfe). 1741 Middleton Cicero (1742) II. vii. 229 After the contemptible account which Cicero gives of Bibulus's conduct in Syria, it must appear strange to see him honored with a supplication, and aspiring even to a Triumph. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., App. s.v., On subduing the Sabines, in the year of the city 304, a supplication of one day only was ordained. |
e. spec. In Oxford University, a formal petition for a degree or for incorporation: cf. supplicat.
| 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. Fasti 640 This year was a Supplication made in the ven. Congregation of Regents for one Rich. Bere..to be graduated in Divinity. Ibid. 670 Richard Brynckley..Dr. of Divinity of Cambridge... His supplication..was granted..and his incorporation..set down..under this year (1524). 1810 Oxf. Univ. Cal. 3 In the Congregation degrees are conferred, graces or supplications for them having been there previously proposed and passed. 1895 Rashdall Univ. Europe II. 508 This abstention on the part of Wykehamists from the ‘supplications’, which had come to be regarded as essential to all other candidates. |
Hence suppliˈcation v., trans. to make supplication to; suppliˈcationer, a petitioner.
| 1585 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 106 Against th'untruth of such libellers and supplicationers. 1589 [? Nashe] Almond for Parrat N.'s Wks. 1905 III. 365 The Protestationer, Demonstrationer, Supplicationer, Appellationer. 1593 ― Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 61, I haue..humbly supplicationd you, to accept of my largesse. |