Etymology From Middle French transfixer, from Old French transfixer, from Latin transfigō (“to pierce through”), from trans- (“through”) + figō (“to pierce”).
1
To render motionless, by arousing terror, amazement or awe.
He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
But we may as well accept her story as true, for it is likely she would have been transfixed by the narcissism of the weight lifters.1973, Norman Mailer, Marilyn: A Biography, page 45:
2
To pierce with a sharp pointed weapon.
The spear transfixed my arm that was uplifted In swift expostulation, and the blood Gushed round its point: I smiled, […]1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 237:
There was a little stream that ran not far away, in which he bathed, and down this on occasion would come a shoal of fish. Then the natives would assemble with spears, and with much shouting would transfix the great startled things as they hurried down to the sea.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 52”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A discontinuous affix, typical of Afro-Asiatic languages, which occurs at more than one position in a word, i.e. a combination of prefixes, infixes and/or suffixes.
The Arabic word مكتوب (maktūb, “written”) is built from the root [script needed] (k–t–b, “writing”) and the transfix [script needed] (ma––ū–, “passive participle”).