Obsecrates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Pleads earnestly and humbly with someone, often by invoking something holy or sacred, as a supplicant would
2. Beseeches a person fervently in the name of a higher power or a deeply held principle
3. Entreats someone with urgent, heartfelt appeals, calling on a sacred or solemn obligation to persuade them

Etymology: "Obsecrates" is the third-person singular present form of "obsecrate", so it shares the verb's history: a Latin word, "obsecrare", meaning to beseech or entreat, built from "ob" ("before, in front of") and "sacrare" ("to consecrate, make sacred"). The sense is that of calling on something sacred to beg a favour, which explains why the verb carries such solemnity in English. The verb was borrowed from Latin into English, where it has stayed a literary and formal word, used to mean to beg earnestly or urgently. Its root "sacrare" also gives English "sacred" and "sacrifice", so the same sacred core runs through all three.

Synonyms: beseech, implore, entreat, supplicate, adjure