entreat

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English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Anglo-Norman entretier, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French entraiter, from en- + traiter.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈtɹiːt/, /ənˈtɹiːt/, /ɛnˈtɹiːt/
  • Rhymes: -iːt
  • Audio (UK):(file)

Verb

entreat (third-person singular simple present entreats, present participle entreating, simple past and past participle entreated)

  1. To treat with, or in respect to, a thing desired; hence, to ask for earnestly.
  2. To beseech or supplicate (a person); to prevail upon by prayer or solicitation; to try to persuade.
    • 1789, John Rogers, The Nature and Influence of the Fear of God (sermon)
      It were a fruitless attempt to appease a power whom no prayers could entreat.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII
      “But I cannot persuade her to go away, my lady,” said the footman; “nor can any of the servants. Mrs. Fairfax is with her just now, entreating her to be gone; but she has taken a chair in the chimney-comer, and says nothing shall stir her from it till she gets leave to come in here.”
    • 1937, Frank Churchill and Leigh Harline, “One Song”, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney:
      One heart / Tenderly beating / Ever entreating / Constant and true
  3. (obsolete) To invite; to entertain.
    • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      pleasures to entreat
  4. (obsolete) To treat or discourse; hence, to enter into negotiations, as for a treaty.
    • (Can we date this quote by Hakewill and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      of which I shall have further occasion to entreat
    • 1611 King James Bible, 1 Maccabees x. 47
      Alexander […] was first that entreated of true peace with them.
  5. (obsolete, intransitive) To make an earnest petition or request.
    • (Can we date this quote by Knolles and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The Janizaries entreated for them as valiant men.
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use.

Translations

Noun

entreat (plural entreats)

  1. (obsolete) An entreaty.
    • Samuel Pordage, Mundorum explicatio
      Let my entreats of Love prevail so far, / When for your happinesse they spoken are: […]
    • 2006, Khaled Abou El Fadl, The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books,[1] Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 236:
      In the Muslim world, the most compelling and decisive books are those full of confessions written on the flesh of victims, and the most earnest prayers are the entreats for mercy screamed in pain and anguish at the tormentors and flesh and thought.

Anagrams

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