enthrall

English

Alternative forms

• enthral (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English enthrallen, equivalent to en- +‎ thrall.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈθɹɔːl/

Verb

enthrall (third-person singular simple present enthralls, present participle enthralling, simple past and past participle enthralled)

1. (transitive) To hold spellbound.

   Synonyms: bewitch, captivate, charm, enchant, transfix

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 5, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:

     Fancy, Jim, to be in love and play Juliet! To have him sitting there! To play for his delight! I am afraid I may frighten the company, frighten or enthrall them.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 17, in The Return of Tarzan‎^[1]:

     In the center of the circle of glittering black bodies he leaped and roared and shook his heavy spear in the same mad abandon that enthralled his fellow savages. The last remnant of his civilization was forgotten—he was a primitive man to the fullest now; reveling in the freedom of the fierce, wild life he loved, gloating in his kingship among these wild blacks.

2. (transitive, rare) To make subservient.

   Synonyms: enslave, subjugate

   Antonym: disenthrall

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:

     […] Who oft as undeservedly enthrall / His outward freedom: Tyranny must be;

Translations

hold spellbound

• Bulgarian: омайвам (bg) (omajvam), очаровам (bg) (očarovam)
• Catalan: embruixar (ca), captivar (ca)
• Danish: være vild med
• Dutch: betoveren (nl)
• Esperanto: ravi (eo), sorĉi
• Finnish: lumota (fi)
• French: captiver (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: fesseln (de), bezirzen (de), verhexen (de)
• Greek: γοητεύω (el) (goïtévo)
• Hungarian: elbűvöl (hu)
• Romanian: captiva (ro), fermeca (ro), vrăji (ro)
• Russian: зачаро́вывать (ru) impf (začaróvyvatʹ)
• Spanish: subyugar (es), cautivar (es), embrujar (es), embelesar (es)
• Ukrainian: зачаро́вувати impf (začaróvuvaty)

make subservient

• Bulgarian: поробвам (bg) (porobvam)
• Catalan: subjugar (ca)
• Danish: kue, underkue, undertrykke
• Dutch: onderwerpen (nl)
• Esperanto: subigi, sklavigi
• Finnish: orjuuttaa (fi)
• French: asservir (fr)
• German: unterwerfen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌸𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (anaþiwan)
• Hungarian: rabjává tesz
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: sklavigar (io)
• Italian: asservire (it), schiavizzare
• Polish: zniewolić (pl) pf
• Romanian: subjuga (ro), aservi (ro), înrobi (ro)
• Russian: порабоща́ть (ru) impf (poraboščátʹ)
• Spanish: esclavizar (es), subyugar (es)
• Ukrainian: понево́лювати impf (ponevóljuvaty), підко́рювати impf (pidkórjuvaty)

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “enthrall”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.