placation

noun

Etymology: From Latin placatio.

1. A process or act of placating; appeasement or an expression of appeasement.

   “The refusal, at certain times and seasons, of food that in itself is hygienically good and palatable, in placation of a deity, or, without further explanation, to avoid bad luck, is well known among the lower tribes of men.”

   “Instead, Jerry [a dog] was all placation and appeal, all softness of pleading in a body denied speech that nevertheless was articulate, from wagging tail and wriggling sides to flat-laid ears and eyes that almost spoke, to any human sensitive of understanding.”