entreat
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entreat
- /ɪnˈtɹiːt/ UK
- /ɛn-/ UK
- /ɪnˈtɹit/ US
- /ɛn-/ US
Rhymes with -iːt
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English entreten (“to deal with (someone) in a specified way; to concern oneself with (something); to deal with or give an account of (a topic); to engage in negotiation; to intercede for (someone); to plead with (someone)”), from Anglo-Norman entraiter, entretier (“to concern oneself with (something); to deal with (someone) in a specified manner; to have a conversation with (someone); to negotiate (with someone, or about something)”), Middle French entraiter, entraictier, and Old French entraictier (“to have a conversation with (someone); to concern oneself with (something)”), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + traiter (“to be concerned with (something); to treat (someone) in a specified way”) (from Latin tractāre, the present active infinitive of tractō (“to handle, manage; to drag, haul”), from trahō (“to drag, pull; etc.”) (see that entry for the further etymology) + -tō (frequentative suffix)).
The noun is derived from Late Middle English entrete (“agreement; negotiation; treatment of a subject in discourse”), from the verb.
verb entreats · entreating · entreated · entreat
-
To ask earnestly or beg for (something, such as a benefit or favour).
If you be ſhe, I doe intreat your patience / To heare me ſpeake the meſſage I am ſent on.
Similar: supplicate
- To earnestly ask or beg (someone); to beseech, to implore. Then Pharaoh called for Moſes and Aaron, and ſaid, Intreat the Lord, that hee may take away the frogges from me, and from my people: […]
- To try to influence or persuade (someone); to induce, to prevail upon. [S]he could in no wiſe be intreated with her good vyll to delyuer him, […]
- Often followed by for: to ask earnestly or to beg for a benefit, favour, etc.; to appeal, to plead. [T]he rayſing of people, and aſſemble of Souldiours by him, could ſignifie no peace, nor treatie of concorde: except a man ſhould ſaye, that intreating for fauour with naked ſworde in hande, were an humble ſubmiſſion and a meeke requeſt: […]
- To make a petition or request on behalf of someone; to intercede, to plead. Wil ye accepte yͤ perſonne of God, and intreate for him?
- To act towards or deal with (someone or something) in a specified manner; to handle, to treat. And here I ſpeake of the generation, wherby they doo engender, and not of that, wherby they are engendred, becauſe it ſhuld be to long to intreate, howe the chyldren of lyght are ingendred, and how they come in at the doore: and howe the children of the world be engendred, and come in an other way.
- To discuss or negotiate (something); also, to discuss or negotiate with (someone). [T]hey entreated the ſayd companyons and offred them golde⸝ and ſyluer⸝ and paſſage: […]
- To occupy oneself with (something). The Gardin of Proſerpina […] ſhe often vſd from open heat / Her ſelfe to ſhroud, and pleaſures to entreat.
- Sometimes followed by of or upon: to give an account or description of a matter; to deal with. [O]f all theſe ſeuerally I intend to intreate in the folovving chapters.
- Often followed by about, for, or of: to discuss or negotiate, especially in order to reach a settlement. [B]ytwene theſe parties entreated for a peace⸝ the archbyſhoppe of Senus⸝ the byſſhoppe of Auſſer⸝ the byſſhoppe of Beaumoys⸝ the lorde of Momorency⸝ the lorde of Fyenes⸝ and the lorde of ſaynt Uenant.
noun entreats
-
Synonym of entreaty (“an act of asking earnestly or begging for something”); an appeal, a plea.
Let my entreats of Love prevail ſo far, / VVhen for your happineſſe they ſpoken are: / Be not a Captive to the vvorld, but be / One unto Heav'n, and that is to be free.
Similar: entreaty
Translations
Talk about this word "entreat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/entreat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. entreat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/entreat "entreat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/entreat.Cite this
@misc{entreat_2026,
title = {entreat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/entreat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
