Rapture

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹæpt͡ʃɚ/

Definitions

1. A state of overwhelming joy, delight, or ecstatic bliss that transports someone beyond ordinary experience
2. A profound feeling of intense pleasure or happiness that completely absorbs and elevates the mind and spirit
3. An emotional or spiritual experience marked by great happiness and complete absorption in the present moment

Etymology: The English "rapture" carries the sense of being seized or carried away, and that original meaning is still visible in the Latin word it came from. "Raptura" in Latin is connected to "rapio," meaning "snatch" or "carry off," so the earliest sense was physical: being taken by force. Over centuries the idea moved from being abducted to being swept away emotionally, which is how "rapture" came to mean intense joy. The word reached English by way of Middle French "rapture," which had already taken on the sense of being carried off or transported. English speakers borrowed it with that same movement of the mind and body, so an experience that once suggested being physically snatched away came to describe the feeling of being overwhelmed by delight.

Synonyms: ecstasy, joy, delight, euphoria, bliss

Antonyms: misery, sorrow, despair, unhappiness, discontent