Piacular
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Requiring atonement or reparation: wicked, sinful, bad.
"And while we think it ſo piaculous, to go beyond the Ancients; we muſt neceſſarily come ſhort of genuine Antiquity, Truth; unleſs we ſuppoſe them to have reach'd perfection of Knowlege in ſpight of their own acknowledgments of Ignorance."
- 2 Expiatory; serving to atone.
"The piacular sacrifice arose from the need of atoning for bloodshed within the kinship group ; properly speaking, the culprit himself should suffer : should he be unknown or beyond the reach of vengeance, a substitute had to be found[…]"
Example
More examples"And while we think it ſo piaculous, to go beyond the Ancients; we muſt neceſſarily come ſhort of genuine Antiquity, Truth; unleſs we ſuppoſe them to have reach'd perfection of Knowlege in ſpight of their own acknowledgments of Ignorance."
Etymology
Early 17th century, from French piaculaire, from Latin piacularis, derived from piaculum, from piō (“I appease, purify, expiate”) +-culum (instrumental suffix).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.