Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

supplicant

[suhp-li-kuh nt]
See more synonyms for supplicant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. supplicating.
Show More
noun
  1. a suppliant.
Show More

Origin of supplicant

1590–1600; < Latin supplicant- (stem of supplicāns), present participle of supplicāre to supplicate; see -ant; doublet of suppliant
Can be confusedsupplant supplicant suppliant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

petitioner, beggar, suppliant

Examples from the Web for supplicant

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • So not as a supplicant did he come to her, but as one who demanded fiercely love for love.

  • Each god is to the mind of the supplicant as good as all gods.

  • A token is being exchanged between her and the supplicant at her right.

    The Tapestry Book

    Helen Churchill Candee

  • "He has just saved your life, my liege," cried the supplicant.

    Windsor Castle

    William Harrison Ainsworth

  • And, with a slight effort, he threw the supplicant from him, and dashed into the street.

    Hildebrand

    Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for supplicant

supplicant

suppliant

noun
  1. a person who supplicates
Show More
adjective
  1. entreating humbly; supplicating
Show More

Word Origin

C16: from Latin supplicāns beseeching; see supple
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for supplicant

adj.

1590s, from Latin supplicantem (nominative supplicans), present participle of supplicare "plead humbly" (see supplication).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper