• enthral(UK)
• inthrall(archaic)

FromMiddle Englishenthrallen, equivalent toen- +‎thrall.

• IPA^(key):/ɪnˈθɹɔːl/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

enthrall (third-person singular simple presententhralls,present participleenthralling,simple past and past participleenthralled)(transitive)

1. Toholdspellbound.

   Synonyms:bewitch,captivate,charm,enchant,transfix

   • 1891,Oscar Wilde, chapter 5, inThe Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: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 orenthrall them.

   • 1913,Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 17, inThe Return of Tarzan‎^[1]:

     In the center of the circle of glittering black bodies he leaped and roared and shook his heavy spear in the same mad abandon thatenthralled 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.

2. (nowrare) To makesubservient.

   Synonyms:enslave,subjugate

   Antonym:disenthrall

   • 1667,John Milton, “Book XII”, inParadise Lost. […], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:

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

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “enthrall”, inOnline Etymology Dictionary.