captivate

Etymology

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 *keh₂p- (“to hold; to seize”)) + -ō (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs). The English word is analyzable as captive + -ate (suffix forming verbs meaning ‘to act [in the specified manner]’, and adjectives meaning ‘characterized by [the specified thing]’).

verb

1. (obsolete)
   1. To make (a person, an animal, etc.) a captive; to take prisoner; to capture, to subdue.
   2. (figurative) To capture or control (the mind, etc.); to subdue, to subjugate.
2. (figurative) To attract and hold (someone's) attention and interest; to charm, to entrance, to fascinate.

adj

1. (also figurative, obsolete) Made captive; taken prisoner; captured, subdued.