English
supplicate
Supplicate comes from Middle English supplicaten ‘to request’, from Latin supplicātus ‘prayed’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’next step skipped: Latin supplicō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicātus‘prayed’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplicaten‘to request’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613supplicate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’next step skipped: Latin supplicō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicātus‘prayed’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplicaten‘to request’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613supplicate
Earliest quotation: 1613, Andrew Willet, The Third Generall Controversie, Concerning Councels: “Thus alſo the Church of Svveueland ſupplicateth to the…”
The story
Supplicātus is the perfect passive participle of supplicō (‘to pray, supplicate; to beg, humbly beseech’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from sup- (variant of sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’)) + plicō (‘to bend, flex; to fold; to roll up’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (‘to fold; to plait, weave’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, display, apply, employment, reply, employ, exploit, imply, deploy, explicit, fiasco, flax, replica, ploy, implicit, flack, ply, accomplice, complication, inexplicable, complicity, plexus, complicate, pliable, flagon, implicate, splay, pliant, triplicate, explication, 36 more
Today it means
verb To make a humble request to (someone, especially a person in authority); to beg, to beseech, to entreat.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / supplicate