Solicit - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Solicit

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

so·lic·it

Audio Help [suh-lis-it] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to seek for (something) by entreaty, earnest or respectful request, formal application, etc.: He solicited aid from the minister.

2.	to entreat or petition (someone or some agency): to solicit the committee for funds.

3.	to seek to influence or incite to action, esp. unlawful or wrong action.

4.	to offer to have sex with in exchange for money.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to make a petition or request, as for something desired.

6.	to solicit orders or trade, as for a business: No soliciting allowed in this building.

7.	to offer to have sex with someone in exchange for money.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME soliciten < MF solliciter < L sollicitāre to excite, agitate, deriv. of sollicitus troubled (soll(us) whole + -i- -i- + citus, ptp. of ciére to arouse)

]

—Synonyms 2. beseech, beg. 3. excite, arouse, provoke.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Solicit

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

so·lic·it Audio Help   (sə-lĭs'ĭt) Pronunciation Key
v.   so·lic·it·ed, so·lic·it·ing, so·lic·its

v.   tr.

To seek to obtain by persuasion, entreaty, or formal application: a candidate who solicited votes among the factory workers.
To petition persistently; importune: solicited the neighbors for donations.
To entice or incite to evil or illegal action.
To approach or accost (a person) with an offer of sexual services.

v. intr.

To make solicitation or petition for something desired.
To approach or accost someone with an offer of sexual services in return for payment.

[Middle English soliciten, to disturb, from Old French solliciter, from Latin sollicitāre, from sollicitus, troubled; see solicitous.]

so·lic'i·ta'tion n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
solicit

c.1422, "to disturb, trouble," from M.Fr. soliciter, from L. solicitare "to disturb, rouse," from sollicitus "agitated," from sollus "whole, entire" + citus "aroused," pp. of ciere "shake, excite, set in motion" (see cite). Meaning "to further (business affairs)" evolved c.1450 from M.Fr. sense of "manage affairs." The sexual sense (often in ref. to prostitutes) is attested from 1701, probably from a merger of the business sense and an earlier sense of "to court or beg the favor of" (a woman), attested from 1591.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

solicit
verb
1.	make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently; "Henry IV solicited the Pope for a divorce"; "My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities"
2.	make amorous advances towards; "John is courting Mary" [syn: woo]
3.	approach with an offer of sexual favors; "he was solicited by a prostitute"; "The young man was caught soliciting in the park" [syn: hook]
4.	incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination; "He was accused of soliciting his colleagues to destroy the documents"
5.	make a solicitation or petition for something desired; "She is too shy to solicit"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
solicit [səˈlisit] verb

to ask (for)
Example: People working for charities are permitted to solicit (money from) the public.

Arabic:	يلْتَمِس، يَطْلُب
Chinese (Simplified):	请求，恳求
Chinese (Traditional):	請求，懇求
Czech:	vybírat, žádat
Danish:	bede om
Dutch:	verzoeken
Estonian:	paluma
Finnish:	pyytää
French:	solliciter (qqch. de qqn)
German:	dringend bitten
Greek:	ζητώ
Hungarian:	(nyomatékosan) kér
Icelandic:	fara fram á
Indonesian:	meminta
Italian:	chiedere

Japanese:	求める
Korean:	졸라대다; 구걸하다
Latvian:	lūgt
Lithuanian:	prašyti
Norwegian:	samle inn (for et veldedig formål)
Polish:	prosić o, zabiegać o
Portuguese (Brazil):	solicitar
Portuguese (Portugal):	pedir
Romanian:	a solicita
Russian:	просить
Slovak:	(formálne) žiadať
Slovenian:	zaprositi za
Spanish:	solicitar, pedir, exigir
Swedish:	tigga, be om
Turkish:	rica etmek, istemek

See also: solicitor

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Solicit

Be*seech"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Besought; p. pr. & vb. n. Beseeching.] [OE. bisechen, biseken (akin to G. besuchen to visit); pref. be- + sechen, seken, to seek. See Seek.]

1. To ask or entreat with urgency; to supplicate; to implore.

I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts. --Shak.

But Eve . . . besought his peace. --Milton.

Syn: To beg; to crave.

Usage: To Beseech, Entreat, Solicit, Implore, Supplicate. These words agree in marking that sense of want which leads men to beg some favor. To solicit is to make a request, with some degree of earnestness and repetition, of one whom we address as a superior. To entreat implies greater urgency, usually enforced by adducing reasons or arguments. To beseech is still stronger, and belongs rather to the language of poetry and imagination. To implore denotes increased fervor of entreaty, as addressed either to equals or superiors. To supplicate expresses the extreme of entreaty, and usually implies a state of deep humiliation. Thus, a captive supplicates a conqueror to spare his life. Men solicit by virtue of their interest with another; they entreat in the use of reasoning and strong representations; they beseech with importunate earnestness; they implore from a sense of overwhelming distress; they supplicate with a feeling of the most absolute inferiority and dependence.

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