ec·sta·sy
Audio Help [ek-stuh-see] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [ek-stuh-see] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -sies.
| 1. | rapturous delight. |
| 2. | an overpowering emotion or exaltation; a state of sudden, intense feeling. |
| 3. | the frenzy of poetic inspiration. |
| 4. | mental transport or rapture from the contemplation of divine things. |
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME extasie < MF < ML extasis < Gk ékstasis displacement, trance, equiv. to ek- ec- + stásis stasis
]
] —Synonyms 2. delight, bliss, elation. Ecstasy, rapture, transport, exaltation share a sense of being taken or moved out of one's self or one's normal state, and entering a state of intensified or heightened feeling. Ecstasy suggests an intensification of emotion so powerful as to produce a trancelike dissociation from all but the single overpowering feeling: an ecstasy of rage, grief, love. Rapture shares the power of ecstasy but most often refers to an elevated sensation of bliss or delight, either carnal or spiritual: the rapture of first love. Transport, somewhat less extreme than either ecstasy or rapture, implies a strength of feeling that results in expression of some kind: They jumped up and down in a transport of delight. Exaltation refers to a heady sense of personal well-being so powerful that one is lifted above normal emotional levels and above normal people: wild exaltation at having finally broken the record.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Ecstasies
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| ec·sta·sy
Audio Help (ěk'stə-sē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ec·sta·sies
[Middle English extasie, from Old French, from Late Latin extasis, terror, from Greek ekstasis, astonishment, distraction, from existanai, to displace, derange : ek-, out of; see ecto- + histanai, to place; see stā- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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