Etymograph

English

supplicate

Supplicate comes from Middle English supplicaten ‘to request’, from Latin supplicātus ‘prayed’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-1‘to fold, plait, weave’next step skipped: Latin supplicō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicātus1‘prayed’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplicaten1‘to request’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1613supplicate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English supplicate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613, Andrew Willet, The Third Generall Controversie, Concerning Councels: “Thus alſo the Church of Svveueland ſupplicateth to the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-Wiktionary, English supplicate‘to fold, plait, weave’next step skipped: Latin supplicō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupplicātusWiktionary, English supplicate‘prayed’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500supplicatenWiktionary, English supplicate‘to request’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1613supplicateWiktionary, English supplicate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613, Andrew Willet, The Third Generall Controversie, Concerning Councels: “Thus alſo the Church of Svveueland ſupplicateth to the…”

The story

Supplicātus is the perfect passive participle of supplicō (‘to pray, supplicate; to beg, humbly beseech’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from sup- (variant of sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’)) + plicō (‘to bend, flex; to fold; to roll up’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (‘to fold; to plait, weave’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’

complex, display, apply, employment, reply, employ, exploit, imply, deploy, explicit, fiasco, flax, replica, ploy, implicit, flack, ply, accomplice, complication, inexplicable, complicity, plexus, complicate, pliable, flagon, implicate, splay, pliant, triplicate, explication, 36 more

Today it means

verb To make a humble request to (someone, especially a person in authority); to beg, to beseech, to entreat.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “supplicate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / supplicate

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