supplicium

Latin

Etymology

From supplex (kneeling, begging, suppliant) (oblique stem supplic-) +‎ -ium.

Pronunciation

Noun

supplicium n (genitive suppliciī or supplicī); second declension

  1. kneeling, supplication, a humble entreaty or petition
    Synonyms: postulātum, supplicātiō, petītiō, rogātiō, precātiō, prex
  2. punishment
    Synonyms: pūnītiō, mercēs, poena, sanctio, vindicātiō, exemplum, pretium, vindicta, malum, animadversus
    • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 903:
      CHREMĒS: Prō peccātō magnō, paulum supplicī satis est patrī.
      CHREMES: From a father, a little punishment is enough for a great sin.
      (Literally, the smallest [form] of punishment. Ancient cultural context: Given the father’s profound authority and intimate bond with his children, a seemingly minor penalty from him has a powerful and sufficient corrective effect, even for a significant transgression.)
  3. suffering
  4. torture
    Synonyms: cruciātus, exemplum
  5. offering to the gods
    • Sallust (Catilinae Coniuratio)
      In suppliciis deorum magnifici [...] erant.
      They were generous in their offerings to the gods.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

singular plural
nominative supplicium supplicia
genitive suppliciī
supplicī1
suppliciōrum
dative suppliciō suppliciīs
accusative supplicium supplicia
ablative suppliciō suppliciīs
vocative supplicium supplicia

1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

  • Catalan: suplici
  • French: supplice
  • Italian: supplizio
  • Portuguese: suplício
  • Spanish: suplicio

References

  • supplicium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • supplicium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "supplicium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • supplicium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to expiate a crime by punishment: scelus supplicio expiare
    • to exact a penalty from some one: supplicium sumere de aliquo
    • to decree the penalty of death: supplicium alicui decernere, in aliquem constituere
    • to execute the death-sentence on a person: supplicium sumere de aliquo
    • to suffer capital punishment: supplicio (capitis) affici
  • supplicium”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers