Ensorcell (pronounced en-sawr-suhl)
To
bewitch.
1535–1545:
From the French ensorceller, from the
Middle French ensorceler (to bewitch),
a dissimilated variant of the Old French ensorcerer,
the construct of which was en- (from
Old French en-, a prefixation of
Latin in (in, into)) + the verb from sorcier (sorcerer; wizard). Ultimate root of sorcier was the Latin sors
(fate, lot; oracular response; destiny, fate or fortune of an individual), from
the primitive Indo-European ser- (to bind).
Ensorcellment is another noun and the alternative spelling is ensorcel.
Despite
the pedigree reaching back to antiquity of the words from which it comes, the
verb ensorcell (to bewitch or enchant) didn’t appear in English until the
sixteenth century and then only briefly.
Use wasn’t revived until the nineteenth century when Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) included
in The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince,
a translation of a title of one of the Arabian
Nights tales (1885). Ensorcell had
appeared in Henry Torrens’ earlier (1838) partial translation, The Book of The Thousand Nights and One
Night which Burton had read and admired.
Prior to this, the only known instance in English was in George
Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie
(1589), which was reprinted in the early nineteenth century and Torrens probably
picked it up from there.
Victims
Ensorcell is one of those words in English which may have proved useful had it ever come into general use but it remained rare and now inhabits the niche of translations of exotic texts or tales of witchcraft and sorcery. For most purposes the many alternatives are preferable: hypnotize, fascinate, enthrall, stupefy, tickle, bewitch, captivate, please, delight, beguile, cajole, wow, enrapture, attract, mesmerize, enamor, gratify, charm, entice & thrill. However, the word can be used to discuss men who are victims of beguiling women:
“She came forward swaying from side to side and coquettishly moving and indeed she ravished wits and hearts and ensorcelled all eyes with her glances.” (From The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince in Arabian Nights stories by Scheherazade, translated by Sir Richard Burton (1885)).
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