ensorcell meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

ensorcell

verb

UK /ɛnˈsɔːs(ə)l/ · US /ɛnˈsɔɹsəl/

Etymology From Old French ensorceler (“to cast a spell, enchant; to captivate”), a variant of ensorcerer, from en- (prefix meaning ‘caused’) + sorcier (“sorcerer”) (ultimately from Latin sors (“fate, lot; oracular response”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind”)).

UK To bewitch or enchant.

Not any one of all theſe honord parts / Your Princely happes, and habites that do moue, / And as it vvere, enſorcell all the hearts / Of Chriſten kings to quarrell for your loue, […]1589, attributed to George Puttenham, “Of Figures Sententious, otherwise Called Rhetoricall”, in The Arte of English Poesie. […], London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, 3rd booke (Of Ornament), page 187:
[H]e called into presence the kazees and the witnesses, and brought in the three Qurundeels, and brought in the first damsel, and her own sister who had been ensorceled, and he married the three to the three Qurundeels, who had informed him that they were kings, […]1888, “Tale of the Second Damsel”, in Henry [Whitelock] Torrens, transl., The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night: From the Arabic of the Ægyptian M.S. […] Done into English, volume I, Calcutta: W. Thacker & Co., […]; London: W[illia]m H[oughton] Allen & Co., […], →OCLC, page 182:

4 more examples

Juana Maria did not explain why the father had ensorcelled her nephew, though others told me he did it because the nephew had "damaged" ["deflowered"] the girl and then refused to marry her.1991, Joel Streicker, Sentiment and Self-interest: Constructing Class and Gender Identities in Cartagena, Colombia (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), volume 1, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University, →OCLC, page 158:
Suroho defended his village by ensorceling enemies who tried to encroach on village land. […] Suroho was accused of ensorceling fellow villagers, and this made him so unpopular that his sons had to find wives in other villages.1992, Karen J. Brison, “Leaders as Bad Men and Victims”, in Just Talk: Gossip, Meetings, and Power in a Papua New Guinea Village (Studies in Melanesian Anthropology; 11), Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 209:
The woman was obviously a witch. An evil, ungodly creature who would tolerate popery. A foul creature who had lured her husband into his besotted state with her beauty, and probably ensorceled other men as well.1996, Bertrice Small, Wild Jasmine, 1st mass market edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 384:
A 52-year-old widower, Mr. A, was referred for a psychiatric evaluation to help in the determination of whether he was competent to stand trial and whether he had mental illness which met criteria for the insanity defense. […] [H]e also believed that she was in a conspiracy with his unnamed enemies to ensorcel him.1998, Alan R. Felthous, “Psychotic Perceptions of Pet Animals in Defendants Accused of Violent Crimes”, in Randall Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione, editors, Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence: Readings in Research and Application, West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, →ISBN, section 3 (Case Studies, Case Control, and Prospective Research), page 125:

UK, Figuratively To captivate, entrance, or fascinate.

[A] distinction is drawn between the man who speaks as a friend and the man who acts like one. Not only might someone fail to live up to his words in deed, but he may ‘ensorcell’ or ‘beguile’ (θέλγοι) a fellow drinker, leading him to believe in friendship that is not supported by his conduct.2013, Fiona Hobden, “Politics in Action”, in The Symposion in Ancient Greek Society and Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 157:
Harry pursed his lips. He thought about Morgan Robertson and his magical books. He thought about Lyle Lillihammer, thoroughly ensorcelled, who was even now starting the second of what would probably be an entire series of PhDs at the SCP Foundation. He thought about Eileen Veiksaar, who had promised with another bewitching closed-mouth smile to meet him for coffee on his first day at Site-43 a month from now. He didn't like coffee, but he did like the possibilities unfolding in front of him. He thought about those possibilities.2021 March 14, HarryBlank, “Defence”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2024:

Derived terms: ensorcelled, ensorcelling, ensorcellment