captivate

Definition

To make (a person, an animal, etc.) a captive; to take prisoner; to capture, to subdue.

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).

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "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."

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