execrate

Etymology

From Latin exsecrārī, execrārī, from ex (“out”) + sacrāre (“to consecrate, declare accursed”).

Verb

execrate (third-person singular simple present execrates, present participle execrating, simple past and past participle execrated)

1. (transitive) To feel loathing for; abhor.
   • 1932, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Nicodemus, "Prodigal Son":

     And were I not a thing for you and me

     To execrate in angish, you would be

     As indigent a stranger to suprise,

     I fear, as I was once, and as unwise.

2. (transitive) To declare to be hateful or abhorrent; denounce.
3. (intransitive, archaic) To invoke a curse; to curse or swear.
   • 1914, James Joyce, Dubliniers, "Counterparts":

     He longed to execrate aloud, to bring his fist down on something violently.

Further reading

• execrate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• execrate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• execrate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• excetera, excreate

Participle

exēcrāte

1. vocative masculine singular of exēcrātus