Alternative forms

• enthral (UK)
• inthral, inthrall (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#ENTHRALLCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#ENTHRALL enthrallen. By surface analysis, en- +‎ thrallCategory:English terms prefixed with en-#THRALL.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈθɹɔːl/Category:English 2-syllable words#ENTHRALLCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ENTHRALL

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#ENTHRALL

Verb

enthrall (third-person singular simple present enthralls, present participle enthralling, simple past and past participle enthralled)Category:English lemmas#ENTHRALLCategory:English verbs#ENTHRALLCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#ENTHRALLCategory:Pages with entries#ENTHRALLCategory:Pages with 1 entry#ENTHRALL (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ENTHRALL)

1. (literally, literaryCategory:English literary terms#ENTHRALL, otherwise archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#ENTHRALL) To enslave; to subjugate.

   Antonym: disenthrall

2. (figuratively)
   1. To hold spellbound.

      Synonyms: bewitch, captivate, charm, enchant, transfix

      • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 5, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:

        Fancy, Jim, to be in love and play Juliet! To have him sitting there! To play for his delight! I am afraid I may frighten the company, frighten or enthrall them.

        Category:English terms with quotations#ENTHRALL

      • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 17, in The Return of Tarzan‎:

        In the center of the circle of glittering black bodies he leaped and roared and shook his heavy spear in the same mad abandon that enthralled his fellow savages. The last remnant of his civilization was forgotten—he was a primitive man to the fullest now; reveling in the freedom of the fierce, wild life he loved, gloating in his kingship among these wild blacks.

        Category:English terms with quotations#ENTHRALL

   2. (now rareCategory:English terms with rare senses#ENTHRALL) To make subservient.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

        […] Who oft as undeservedly enthrall / His outward freedom: Tyranny must be;

        Category:English terms with quotations#ENTHRALL

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “enthrall”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.