captivation

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˌkæptɪˈveɪʃən/ UK /ˌkæptɪˈveɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the state of being charmed or fascinated

The audience watched in utter captivation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of being charmed... fascination enchantmententhrallmentcharm allure spell

Opposites

boredom indifference

Word family

Related forms captivate captivating captive

Etymology

From captivate + -ion, from Late Latin captivāre ('to take captive'), from Latin capere ('to take').

captivāre Latin capere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# captivation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌkæptɪˈveɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌkæptɪˈveɪʃən/

## Meanings
1. the state of being charmed or fascinated

## Examples
- The audience watched in utter captivation.

## Synonyms
- fascination
- enchantment
- enthrallment
- charm
- allure
- spell

## Antonyms
- boredom
- indifference

## Related Forms
- captivate
- captivating
- captive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: captivāre
- Root: capere

## Etymology
From captivate + -ion, from Late Latin captivāre ('to take captive'), from Latin capere ('to take').

## AI Etymology
Captivation comes from captivate + -ion, from Late Latin captivāre ('to take captive'), from Latin capere ('to take'). The historical trail runs through captivāre in Latin and capere in Latin. Morphologically, captivation is transparent: it draws on captivate + -ion, from Late Latin captivāre ('to take captive'), from Latin capere ('to take'). Used as a noun, captivation now means "the state of being charmed or fascinated", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as captivate, captivating, and captive. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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