IMPRECATION, (derived from in, and precors, “I pray;”) a curse or wish that some evil may befall any one.
The ancients had their goddesses called Imprecations, in Latin Dira, i. e. Deorum ira, who were supposed to be the executioners of evil consciences. They were called Dira in heaven, Furies on earth, and Eumenides in hell. The Romans owned but three of these Imprecations, and the Greeks only two. They invoked them with prayers and pieces of verses to destroy their enemies.