Added 30 September 2026
captivate
/ˈkæptɪveɪt/ verb
Latin root: captīvātus Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about captivate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- 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 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.
adjective
Origin
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).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)