Chase

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃeɪs/

Definitions

1. To run after or follow someone or something in order to catch it ; to try to get or achieve something through effort ; a decorative pattern cut or carved into a surface
2. To actively pursue with the intent of capturing ; to attempt to secure or win something desired ; an artistic technique involving engraving or carving for decoration
3. To follow rapidly to catch or capture ; to strive to gain or obtain something ; an ornamentation made by incising or embossing a material

Etymology: The verb "chase" is a doublet of "catch": both come from the same Latin root, "captāre", a frequentative of "capere" meaning "to take" or "to seize." Vulgar Latin turned it into "*captiāre," which passed into Old French as "chacier," and Middle English borrowed it as "chacen." The two words took different routes, one through Old French and one through Anglo-Norman, so English ended up with two versions of the same idea. The sense of pursuing had a rival. Old English already had words for hunting and pursuing, such as "ōht" and "wāþ," but "chase" broadly overtook them. Its original meaning was closer to hunting game, and the modern sense of following something in order to catch it grew from that hunting context. Related French and Spanish words still carry the older hunting sense: French "chasser" and Spanish "cazar" both mean "to hunt." The word "chase" in English has thus kept the core idea of seizing or going after something, while its cousins in other languages stayed closer to the hunt.

Synonyms: pursue, follow, hasten, run after, seek

Antonyms: flee, avoid, escape, evade, shun