solicit

[suh-lis-it] /səˈlɪs ɪt/
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, especially 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 Middle English soliciten < Middle French solliciter < Latin sollicitāre to excite, agitate, derivative of sollicitus troubled (soll(us) whole + -i- -i- + citus, past participle of ciēre to arouse)
Related forms
presolicit, verb (used with object)
resolicit, verb
supersolicit, verb
unsolicited, adjective
Synonyms
2. beseech, beg. 3. excite, arouse, provoke.
Examples from the web for solicit
  • solicit answers that relate to the puppet only knowing what a few words mean, having a favorite way of talking, or being shy.
  • Most likely, the professors will leave the universities when they can no longer solicit research dollars.
  • On the facility side, university administrators need to solicit funds from wealthy donors.
  • After the first week, solicit feedback from the students.
  • Notoriously, the traffic police would even trump up charges against pedestrians to solicit bribes.
  • It can also solicit offers and facilitate the transaction's closing.
  • In one of them, we're trying to solicit some structured data.
  • The idea was to solicit articles from scholars, subject the articles to a seven-step review process, and post them free online.
  • They've even set up website to solicit views by means of a survey.
  • As you move along the agenda items, be sure to solicit input from everyone attending.
British Dictionary definitions for solicit

solicit

/səˈlɪsɪt/
verb -its, -iting, -ited
1.
when intr, foll by for. to make a request, application, or entreaty to (a person for business, support, etc)
2.
to accost (a person) with an offer of sexual relations in return for money
3.
to provoke or incite (a person) to do something wrong or illegal
Derived Forms
solicitation, noun
Word Origin
C15: from Old French solliciter to disturb, from Latin sollicitāre to harass, from sollicitus agitated, from sollus whole + citus, from ciēre to excite
Word Origin and History for solicit
v.

early 15c., "to disturb, trouble," from Middle French soliciter (14c.), from Latin sollicitare "to disturb, rouse, trouble, harass; stimulate, provoke," from sollicitus "agitated," from sollus "whole, entire" + citus "aroused," past participle of ciere "shake, excite, set in motion" (see cite). Related: Solicited; soliciting.

Meaning "entreat, petition" is from 1520s. Meaning "to further (business affairs)" evolved mid-15c. from Middle French sense of "manage affairs." The sexual sense (often in reference to prostitutes) is attested from 1710, probably from a merger of the business sense and an earlier sense of "to court or beg the favor of" (a woman), attested from 1590s.