supplicium

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /supˈpli.ki.um/, [s̠ʊpˈplʲɪkiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /supˈpli.t͡ʃi.um/, [supˈpliːt͡ʃium]

Noun

supplicium n (genitive suppliciī or supplicī); second declension

1. kneeling, supplication, an humble entreaty or petition

   Synonyms: postulātum, supplicātiō, petītiō, rogātiō, precātiō, prex

2. punishment

   Synonyms: pūnītiō, mercēs, poena, sanctio, vindicātiō, exemplum, pretium, vindicta, malum, animadversus

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).

Case	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

• → 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