(derived from in, and precor, "I pray;"') a curse or wish that some evil may befall anyone.

The ancients had their goddees called Imprecations, in Latin, Diræ, i.e. Deorum iræ, who were supposed to be the executioners of evil consciences. They were called Diræ in heaven, Furies on earth, and Eumenides in hell. The Romans owned but three of these Im- precactions, and the Greeks only two. They invoked them with prayers and pieces of verses to destroy their enemies.

IMPRESSION, the getting a female with child. See Conception.

The term impregnation is also used, in pharmacy, for communicating the virtues of one medicine to another, whether by mixture, coction, digestion, &c.