ex-voto
/ɛks ˈvəʊtəʊ
/noun (plural ex-votos)
An offering given in order to fulfil a vow: on the walls hung dozens of ex-votos [as modifier]: a collection of ex-voto offerings...
- The result is one of the smallest, most intensely powerful exhibitions I have seen for a long time, in which each piece, while itself a perfect ex-voto, also contributes to the intercessory impact of the whole.
- His ex-voto will be a part of himself: his child.
- The monument was probably constructed as an ex-voto to thank God for having stopped the plague that had broken out in 1598.
Origin
Late 18th century: from Latin ex voto 'from a vow'.