suppliant

suppliant

English

WOTD – 28 February 2007

Etymology

French suppliant, present participle of supplier. Doublet of supplicant

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌpliənt/

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Adjective

suppliant (comparative more suppliant, superlative most suppliant)

1. Entreating with humility.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     to bow and sue for grace with suppliant knee

2. Supplying; auxiliary.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene vii]:

     your levy Must be suppliant

Translations

entreating with humility

Bulgarian: умолителен (umolitelen) French: suppliant (fr) m Irish: aisceánach, impíoch Latin: supplex Polish: błagający, błagalny (pl), proszalny (pl) Portuguese: suplicante (pt) Russian: проси́тельный (ru) (prosítelʹnyj), умоля́ющий (ru) (umoljájuščij) (begging) Spanish: suplicante (es)

Noun

suppliant (plural suppliants)

1. One who pleads or requests earnestly.

   Synonyms: beseecher, petitioner, supplicant

   • 1963, Philip Vellacott, transl., Medea, translation of original by Euripides, page 39:

     I touch your beard as a suppliant, embrace your knees, imploring you to have pity on my wretchedness.

Translations

one who pleads or requests earnestly

Bulgarian: проси́тел (bg) m (prosítel) Finnish: anova (fi) French: suppliant (fr) Greek: Ancient: ἱκέτης m (hikétēs) Irish: iarrthóir m, idirghuítheoir m Italian: supplice (it) Polish: suplikant m Russian: проси́тель (ru) m (prosítelʹ), проси́тельница (ru) f (prosítelʹnica) Welsh: gweddïwr m

Related terms

• suppliance
• suppliantly
• supplicant
• supplicate
• supplicatingly
• supplication
• supplicator
• supplicatory

 

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French

Participle

suppliant

1. present participle of supplier

Adjective

suppliant (feminine suppliante, masculine plural suppliants, feminine plural suppliantes)

1. suppliant, begging, pleading, imploring

Noun

suppliant m (plural suppliants, feminine suppliante)

1. supplicant

Further reading

• “suppliant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.