imprecation
Definitions
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WordNet 3.6
- n imprecation the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult) "he suffered the imprecations of the mob"
- n imprecation a slanderous accusation
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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- n Imprecation The act of imprecating, or invoking evil upon any one; a prayer that a curse or calamity may fall on any one; a curse. "Men cowered like slaves before such horrid imprecations ."
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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- n imprecation The act of imprecating or invoking evil; a malediction; a prayer or expressed wish that a curse or calamity may befall some one.
- n imprecation Synonyms Curse, Execration, etc. See malediction.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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- n Imprecation the act of imprecating: a curse
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Quotations
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“Curses always recoil on the head of him who imprecates them. If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
L. imprecatio,: cf. F. imprécation,
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
L. imprecāri—in, upon, precāri, -ātus, to pray.
Usage
In literature:
Uttering a terrible imprecation, Blueskin placed the knife between his teeth, and endeavoured to seize the poor woman by the throat.
"Jack Sheppard" by William Harrison Ainsworth
Mentally imprecating the cold, he exposed his bare hands and lighted another cigar.
"The Turtles of Tasman" by Jack London
Moreover pronounce a solemn imprecation.
"The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1" by Various
This is a common form of imprecation among Gipsies all over the world.
"The English Gipsies and Their Language" by Charles G. Leland
After the lapse of a few weeks, he followed his wife to the grave with a broken heart, leaving this imprecation unrecalled.
"Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2" by John Addington Symonds
Somewhere in the further darkness a voice was muttering mild and perplexed imprecations.
"The Lee Shore" by Rose Macaulay
Captain Kidd himself would have blushed at the very sight of this ribald fleet and turned away with a devout imprecation.
"Biltmore Oswald" by J. Thorne Smith, Jr.
From below came a sliding rattle, a great crash of crockery, and then a series of imprecations.
"Dan Merrithew" by Lawrence Perry
With an imprecation he ran into the station and laid his hand heavily on my shoulder.
"A Lover in Homespun" by F. Clifford Smith
It abounds in imprecations, charms for the destruction of enemies, and so forth.
"Two Old Faiths" by J. Murray Mitchell and William Muir
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In poetry:
Yet sad Melpomine rejoyceth not,
Nor ought but imprecations 'stows upon her,
She saith her beauty is to her a blot,
Whose so much goodness robs them of their honor,
Help then Melpomine with thy sad verse,
To tell her fate, and houl upon her Herse.
Nor ought but imprecations 'stows upon her,
She saith her beauty is to her a blot,
Whose so much goodness robs them of their honor,
Help then Melpomine with thy sad verse,
To tell her fate, and houl upon her Herse.
"Arcadius and Sepha" by William Bosworth
In news:
With Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage and Withered Imprecation, 6 pm Tuesday, May 26, at Numbers, 300 Westheimer.
It started with Kory Clarke, the lead singer of Warrior Soul, hurling imprecations against "12 years of Republican administrations".
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In science:
Benson, et al, Imprecated, yet impeccable: on the theoretical evaluation of Γ(B → Xcℓν ), Nucl.
Inclusive Measurements of $B \to X_c\ell\nu$ and $B \to X_s\gamma$ Decays
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