Implore

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈplɔː/

Definitions

1. To beg or plead with someone earnestly and desperately for something that is needed or desired
2. To beseech someone with urgent and emotional intensity, making a fervent appeal or desperate request
3. To entreat another person earnestly and with deep feeling, asking them to do something or provide what is needed

Etymology: The verb "implore" comes from Latin "implōrāre," built from "im-," an intensifying variant of "in-," and "plōrāre," meaning to cry out, lament or wail. The Latin root carried the sound of loud grief, so to implore was originally to cry out to someone in distress, not simply to ask politely. Latin later used the verb for appealing to gods and superiors, which is why the modern sense carries such weight. The word reached English by way of Middle French "implorer," which kept the same sense of begging or pleading. Because the Latin base "plōrāre" is also the source of "deplore," the two words are close relatives, though "deplore" took a path toward mourning and disapproval while "implore" stayed focused on pleading.

Synonyms: beg, plead, entreat, beseech, request