Nympholepts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People consumed by an overwhelming passion for something out of reach ; those seized by a frenzied state believed to be inspired by a nymph
2. Individuals gripped by an impossible, consuming yearning ; figures thrown into ecstatic madness as if possessed by a nymph
3. Those haunted by an unattainable ideal they cannot stop craving ; those who fall into wild frenzy under the spell of a nymph

Etymology: Nympholepts are the plural of "nympholept," a noun for someone seized by an overwhelming, almost frenzied longing, as if a nymph had taken hold of them. The Greek original, "numphólēptos," was built from "númphē," meaning nymph or bride, and "lambánō," meaning "I take" or "I seize." Its literal sense was "caught by nymphs," and it described people thrown into a wild, ecstatic madness, as though a supernatural female spirit had got inside them. The idea behind the word is that nymphs, the minor divinities of woods, springs and streams, could possess mortals and drive them out of their senses. A person so seized was thought to be beyond ordinary reason, which is why the English word keeps that flavour of possession rather than mere desire. The word's later meaning of an impossible, consuming yearning grew naturally out of that older picture of being overtaken from outside.