What does suppliance mean?
Suppliance is a formal, somewhat archaic noun meaning an earnest petition, prayer, or request made with humility and urgency. It appears especially in legal, religious, and ceremonial contexts, where a person may make a serious appeal to a judge, ruler, deity, or other authority. The word suggests more than an ordinary request: it conveys the posture of one pleading for mercy, assistance, or favorable attention. In modern English, it is uncommon, but it remains useful in literary, historical, and specialized prose because it gives an appeal a dignified and solemn tone. Related words such as supplicate, supplication, and suppliant share its underlying sense of humbly asking or praying. When used in contemporary writing, suppliance is best suited to deliberately elevated or historical language rather than casual everyday speech.
nounAn earnest request, petition, or prayer made with humility and urgency. The word is chiefly literary or archaic.
- An earnest petition, prayer, or humble request.
"His suppliance to the assembled judges was treated with more sympathy than contempt."
"His suppliance to the assembled judges was treated with more sympathy than contempt."
"The story ends with a final suppliance to the gods for mercy."
The plural is rare and refers to multiple acts of earnest petition or prayer.
"The records contain suppliances from the prisoners and their families."
Suppliance is a word for asking with gravity: in its older legal and devotional registers, a request carries the emotional weight of a plea.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
How suppliance is actually used
Rare and literary, with a strongly formal or archaic register. It is especially associated with legal, religious, and ceremonial language, and conveys earnestness, humility, and an appeal for mercy or favorable consideration.
Easily confused with suppliance
A supplication is the act or expression of making a humble request or prayer, whereas a suppliance refers more broadly to the request or petition itself.