adjuration
Americannoun
-
an earnest request; entreaty.
-
a solemn or desperate urging or counseling.
an adjuration for all citizens of the beleaguered city to take shelter.
Etymology
Origin of adjuration
1605–15; < Latin adjūrātiōn- (stem of adjūrātiō ), equivalent to adjūrāt ( us ), past participle of adjūrāre to adjure + -ion- -ion
Explanation
Use the noun adjuration to describe the serious, whole-hearted way you begged your parents to let you have a puppy when you were little. During your adjuration to get that puppy, did you say, "I swear I'll feed it and walk it every day! I swear to clean up after it!"? If so, you were really in tune with the origin of adjuration, the Latin ad- or "to" and jurare, "swear" — in the sense of taking an oath of honesty. Adjuration involves both begging and promising.
Vocabulary lists containing adjuration
Frankenstein
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Wuthering Heights
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Novel Study: Frankenstein, Chapters 14–24
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
New York's volcanic little Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia is paternally proud of his neat fleet of silver streamlined, street-cleaning trucks, which bear the adjuration: Our City�Yours and Mine�Keep It Clean.
From Time Magazine Archive
Barnes was moved to adjuration: "I'll take my Bible oath, your Grace, that the Duchess got into the carriage outside Cane and Wilson's."
From Amusement Only by Marsh, Richard
The adjuration spoke volumes, and for a few moments the old man stood there as if in a catalyptic state.
From The Haute Noblesse A Novel by Fenn, George Manville
The solemn adjuration was put, the question asked, and Aymer in an audible voice replied, “I will.”
From World's End A Story in Three Books by Jefferies, Richard
This strikes us now-a-days as anything but a very solemn or a very momentous form of adjuration.
From A Cursory History of Swearing by Sharman, Julian
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
