precatory
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of precatory
1630–40; < Late Latin precātōrius, equivalent to Latin precā ( rī ) to pray, entreat + -tōrius -tory 1
Explanation
Anything that's precatory has something to do with hoping or wishing for something, rather than requiring it. If your school's dress code is precatory, it's more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. Precatory is a formal (and rare) adjective that means "entreating" or "requesting." A precatory list of school supplies, for example, would be things the teacher hopes each student will bring on the first day, rather than required items. You're more likely to find this word in legal documents, especially wills, where it distinguishes something legally binding from something simply expressing a hope: "The provision made for care of her seventeen cats by her niece is merely precatory."
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.
As a so-called precatory proposal, it is not legally binding on the company.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2014
The blessing at the end of the office should stand, as in the English Book, in the precatory form; otherwise we might have the anomaly of a benediction pronounced before the end of the service.
From A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer by William Reed Huntington
“Make your mind easy, amiga!” counselled the Condesa Almonté in less precatory tone.
From The Free Lances A Romance of the Mexican Valley by Mayne Reid
Before long the precatory form of absolution is replaced by the indicative form by which the priest declared the sinner absolved.
From The Church and the Empire, Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 1003 to A.D. 1304 by D. J. (Dudley Julius) Medley
Still this sense has pleased the editors, and they have made "of goodnesse" a precatory and interjectional expression.
From Notes and Queries, Number 207, October 15, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
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