adjure

What is the difference between adjure, entreat, importune, and implore?

Adjure comes, by way of Anglo-French, from the Latin verb adjūrāre, which means “to affirm with an oath” or “to swear.” The root of adjūrāre is jūrāre, which means “to swear”; that word is also the source of jury (“a body of persons sworn to give a verdict on some matter submitted to them”) and juror (“a member of a jury”). In English, “to adjure” can mean to command someone as if under oath or the penalty of a curse, but the word is more commonly used in the sense of “to urge or advise earnestly,” and is synonymous with the somewhat more familiar verbs entreat, importune, and implore.