imprecation
nounUK, US /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin imprecātiō (“calling down of curses”), from imprecor (“call down, invoke”).
1
The act of imprecating, or invoking evil upon someone; a prayer that a curse or calamity may befall someone.
- Hear then this dreadful imprecation; hear it: / 'Tis lay'd on all; not any one exempt: […]1679, [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, Oedipus: A Tragedy. […], London: […] R. Bentley and M. Magnes […], →OCLC, Act I, page 15:
- Her son turned to look at her as she reeled and swayed in the middle of the room, her fierce face convulsed with passion, her blotched arms raised high in imprecation. "May Gawd curse her forever," she shrieked.1893, Stephen Crane, chapter 10, in Maggie, Girl of the Streets:
2
A curse.
- Mr. Gamfield growled a fierce imprecation on the donkey generally, but more particularly on his eyes; and, running after him, bestowed a blow on his head.1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter III, in Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
- He drank the spirits and impatiently bade us go; terminating his command with a sequel of horrid imprecations too bad to repeat or remember.1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter V, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- All life had turned to rottenness and stench in them--love was a beastliness, joy was a snare, and God was an imprecation.1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XVII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- imprecational
- Related terms
- deprecation, imprecate, imprecatory, precation