captivate
Meanings
verb
- To make (a person, an animal, etc.) a captive; to take prisoner; to capture, to subdue.
- To capture or control (the mind, etc.); to subdue, to subjugate.
- To attract and hold (someone's) attention and interest; to charm, to entrance, to fascinate, to enchain.
adj
- Made captive; taken prisoner; captured, subdued.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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).
Synonyms
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Derived words
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