| 释义 |
fascinate, v.|ˈfæsɪneɪt|
[f. L. fascināt- ppl. stem of fascināre to enchant, f. fascinum spell, witchcraft. Cf. F. fasciner.]
†1. trans. To affect by witchcraft or magic; to bewitch, enchant, lay under a spell. Obs.
1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. ix, I was fascinated, by Jupiter: fascinated: but I will be unwitch'd, and reveng'd, by law. 1621–51Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. ii. 96 Why do witches and old women, fascinate and bewitch children? 1657Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 108 Such as..promise to fascinate and cure stinking breaths.
2.
†a. To cast a spell over (a person, animal, etc.) by a look; said esp. of serpents.
b. In later use disconnected from the notion of witchcraft: To deprive of the power of escape or resistance, as serpents are said to do through the terror produced by their look or merely by their perceived presence.
1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 17 Man is a..Basilisk..fascinating with an envious eye the prosperity of his neighbour. 1845Todd & Bowman Physiol. Anat. I. xii. 390 The serpent fascinates its prey, apparently by the power of his eyes. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 582 James..remained at Whitehall, fascinated..by the greatness and nearness of the danger, and unequal to the exertion of either struggling or flying. 1857H. Reed Lect. Eng. Poets II. xii. 124 The pet dove of the castle fascinated in the forest by a serpent.
3. fig.
†a. To enslave (the faculties), the judgement of (a person) (obs.).
b. To attract and retain the attention of (a person) by an irresistible influence.
c. Now usually, To attract and ‘hold spellbound’ by delightful qualities; to charm, enchant.
a.1651Reliq. Wotton, Disp. Buckhm. & Essex 54 A certain innate wisdom and vertue..with which he..fascinated all the faculties of his incomparable master. 1789Bentham Princ. Legisl. xviii. §44 note, Aristotle, fascinated by the prejudice of the times, divides mankind into..freemen and..slaves.
b.1847Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon Wks. (Bohn) I. 378 He delighted to fascinate Josephine..in a dim-lighted apartment by the terrors of a fiction. 1862Burton Bk. Hunter (1863) 111 The eye of the Ancient Mariner fascinated the wedding guest.
c.1815Moore Lalla R. (1824) 30 Illum'd by a wit that would fascinate sages. 1832Lytton Eugene A. I. v, The gay Ellinor was fascinated into admiration. 1874Morley Compromise (1886) 23 They so fascinated the imagination..that [etc.].
absol.1875Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Eloquence Wks. (Bohn) III. 189 This power [eloquence]..fascinates and astonishes. |