captivate
verb
- to attract or charm
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkæptɪvət/ / /ˈkæptəˌvət/ / /ˈkæptɪveɪt/ / /ˈkæptəˌveɪt/
adj
Etymology: See Etymology 1. Equivalent to captive + -ate (adjective-forming suffix)
- Made captive; taken prisoner; captured, subdued.
“Tuſh, vvomen haue bene captiuate ere novv.”
“VVhat is Gods houſe in Caſtle pent, but like that Arke of bliſſe / In Balaims temple Captivate? Ech place a priſon is.”
verb
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Late Latin captīvātus, the perfect passive participle of captīvō (“to capture”), from Latin captīvus (“captive, prisoner”) (ultimately from capiō (“to capture, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to hold; to seize”)) + -ō (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs). Equivalent to captive + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
- To make (a person, an animal, etc.) a captive; to take prisoner; to capture, to subdue.
“Hovv ill-beſeeming is it in thy Sex, / To triumph like an Amazonian Trull, / Vpon their VVoes, vvhom Fortune captiuates?”
“Dabuh is the name of a ſimple and baſe creature like a VVolfe, ſaue that his legges and feete are like to a mans: ſo fooliſh, that vvith a ſong, & a Taber, they vvhich knovv his haunt vvill bring him out of his denne, and captiue his eares vvith their muſicke, vvhile another captiuateth his legges vvith a Rope.”
- To capture or control (the mind, etc.); to subdue, to subjugate.
“Hee hath no skill in Rhetoricke, nor can hee vvith a preface fore-ſtall and captivate the Gentle Readers good vvill: nor careth he greatly to knovve it.”
“They that are vviſe, had rather haue their iudgements at libertie in differences of readings, then to be captiuated to one, vvhen it may be the other.”
- To attract and hold (someone's) attention and interest; to charm, to entrance, to fascinate, to enchain.
“Hir ſlippers rauyſhed his eyes, hir bewtye captyuated his mynde, with the swerde ſmote ſhe of his neck.”
“[L]oe thus my ſtrength is tride. / And this I do to captiuate the eye, / Of the faire breeder that is ſtanding by.”