Ravish

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/

Definitions

1. To seize and carry away by force, or to fill with intense delight and wonder
2. To forcibly abduct someone or overwhelm them with ecstatic joy and captivation
3. To take away by violent force or to enrapture someone with overwhelming pleasure and admiration

Etymology: The most striking thing about "ravish" is how far its sense has moved from violence toward rapture. Its ancestor is Latin "rapere," "to seize," the same root behind "rape" and "rapture," and in Old French "ravir" meant to snatch or carry off hastily. Middle English took the word over in the form "ravyschen," and for centuries its main meaning was physical: to seize someone and carry them away by force. The shift toward delight came gradually. A person carried off suddenly was overwhelmed, and that overwhelming could be emotional as well as physical, so the sense of being swept away by feeling grew out of the older force. Over time the violent meaning faded in ordinary use, leaving the sense of being filled with intense joy or wonder. Because the older sense has largely receded, the verb now carries an unsettling undertone for many readers, since its root is shared with "rape" in the sense of abduction. That shared ancestry is worth keeping in mind when reading older texts, where the seizing sense was the ordinary one.

Synonyms: enchant, delight, captivate, thrill, charm

Antonyms: displease, bore, repel, offend, dismay