enchant

English

Alternative forms

• enchaunt, inchant, inchaunt (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English enchaunten, from Old French enchanter, from Latin incantāre, present active infinitive of incantō. Doublet of incant.

Pronunciation

(verb)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈt͡ʃænt/, /ɛnˈt͡ʃænt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈt͡ʃant/, /ɛnˈt͡ʃant/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈt͡ʃɑːnt/, /ɛnˈt͡ʃɑːnt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɘnˈt͡ʃɐːnt/, /enˈt͡ʃɐːnt/
• Rhymes: -ænt, -ɑːnt

(noun)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnˌt͡ʃænt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnˌt͡ʃɑːnt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Verb

enchant (third-person singular simple present enchants, present participle enchanting, simple past and past participle enchanted)

1. To attract and delight, to charm.
   • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times‎^[1], retrieved 31 October 2012:

     New Jersey was reeling on Wednesday from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which has caused catastrophic flooding here in Hoboken and in other New York City suburbs, destroyed entire neighborhoods across the state and wiped out iconic boardwalks in shore towns that had enchanted generations of vacationgoers.

2. To cast a spell upon (often one that attracts or charms).
   • 2009, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary, Paizo Publishing, →ISBN, page 241:

     With the aid of his eponymous pipes, a satyr is capable of weaving a wide variety of melodic spells designed to enchant others and bring them in line with his capricious desires.

3. (roleplaying games) To magically enhance or degrade an item.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• enchanted
• enchanter
• enchanting
• enchantment
• enchantress

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *keh₂n-‎ (0 c, 24 e)

Translations

to attract and delight

• Bulgarian: очаровам (bg) (očarovam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 迷惑 (zh) (míhuò)

• Finnish: lumota (fi), tenhota, kiehtoa (fi)
• French: enchanter (fr)
• German: verzaubern (de)
• Greek: γοητεύω (el) (goïtévo)

  Ancient: θέλγω (thélgō)

• Italian: incantare (it)
• Latin: fascino (la)
• Maori: ātahu
• Middle English: enchaunten
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fortrylle

• Polish: oczarować (pl)
• Portuguese: encantar (pt)
• Romanian: fermeca (ro), încânta (ro)
• Russian: привлека́ть (ru) (privlekátʹ), озаря́ть (ru) (ozarjátʹ), восхищать (ru) (vosxiščatʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Logudorese: ammaghiare, arrebettare, attrauccare, abbauccare

• Spanish: encantar (es)
• Swedish: charmera (sv), förtrolla (sv)
• Turkish: büyülemek (tr)

to cast a spell upon

• Azerbaijani: ovsunlamaq (az)
• Belarusian: зачаро́ўваць impf (začaróŭvacʹ), зачарава́ць pf (začaravácʹ)
• Bulgarian: омагьосвам (bg) (omagjosvam)
• Dutch: betoveren (nl)
• Esperanto: sorĉi
• Finnish: noitua (fi), kirota (fi), loitsia (fi), loihtia (fi)
• German: verzaubern (de)
• Greek: γοητεύω (el) (goïtévo)

  Ancient: κηλέω (kēléō), θέλγω (thélgō)

• Hungarian: varázsol (hu)
• Irish: draíocht ar
• Latin: fascino (la), incanto
• Maori: ātahu
• Middle English: enchaunten
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fortrylle

• Portuguese: encantar (pt)
• Romanian: fermeca (ro)
• Russian: зачаро́вывать (ru) impf (začaróvyvatʹ), зачарова́ть (ru) pf (začarovátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir fo gheasaibh, ubagaich
• Swedish: förtrolla (sv)
• Tocharian B: (causative voice) yānk-
• Turkish: büyülemek (tr), büyü yapmak (tr)
• Volapük: bemagivön (vo)

Noun

enchant (plural enchants)

1. (gaming) An enchantment
   • 2015, Megan Miller, The Big Book of Hacks for Minecrafters: The Biggest Unofficial Guide to Tips and Tricks That Other Guides Won't Teach You, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     The top button is an enchant you can get with 1 lapis, the middle will need 2 lapis, and the bottom will need 3. In addition to lapis, you will need to have a certain number of experience points to get an enchant.

Anagrams

• Nechtan

Middle English

Verb

enchant

1. Alternative form of enchaunten