different between precation vs precatory

English

Noun

precation (countable and uncountable, plural precations)

1. (rare) A prayer or act of praying; an earnest request.
   • 1881, Richard Watson Dixon, History of the Church of England, Vol. 2, Routledge, p. 431:

     The Litany […] was ordered to be sung immediately before High Mass, by the priests "with others of the choir" […] and this solemn form of precation, like so many other things, assumed the livery of uniformity.

   • 1893, Charles P. G. Scott, "English Words Which Hav Gaind or Lost an Initial Consonant by Attraction," Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 24, p. 123:

     The full form of the precation was God give you a good even.

   • 1996, J. L. Styan, The English Stage, ?ISBN, pp. xiii–xiv:

     The present inquiry therefore aims to pay more than lipservice to the notion of drama as performance, and to make more than a gesture towards the idea of theatre as a composite art, one that mixes music and mime, dance and song, painting and design, poetry and narrative, and much else. It is precation and response, and seeks out evidence of the manipulation of the audience and its powers of perception.

Derived terms

• precative
• precatory

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

Anagrams

• captioner, pre-action, preaction, recaption

English

Etymology

From Late Latin precatorius, from Latin precari (“to pray”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p??.k?.t?.?i/, /?p??.k?.t?i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p??.k??t?.?i/

Adjective

precatory (comparative more precatory, superlative most precatory)

1. Expressing a wish.
   • 1827, Sir Walter Scott, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, "December 1827":

     December 8. . . . A precatory letter from Gillies. I must do Molière for him, I suppose; but it is wonderful that knowing the situation I am in, the poor fellow presses so hard.

2. (law) Expressing a wish but not creating any legal obligation or duty.

   precatory words in a will

Synonyms

• (expressing a wish): precative, supplicatory
• (legal): aspirational

Related terms

• precation

See also

• should