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Webster 1913 Edition

Ecstasy

Ec′sta-sy

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Ecstasies
(#)
.
[F.
extase
, L.
ecstasis
, fr. Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to put out of place, derange; [GREEK] =
ἐκ
out + [GREEK] to set, stand. See
Ex-
, and
Stand
.]
[Also written
extasy
.]
1.
The state of being beside one’s self or rapt out of one's self; a state in which the mind is elevated above the reach of ordinary impressions, as when under the influence of overpowering emotion; an extraordinary elevation of the spirit, as when the soul, unconscious of sensible objects, is supposed to contemplate heavenly mysteries.
Like a mad prophet in an
ecstasy
.
Dryden.
This is the very
ecstasy
of love.
Shakespeare
2.
Excessive and overmastering joy or enthusiasm; rapture; enthusiastic delight.
He on the tender grass
Would sit, and hearken even to
ecstasy
.
Milton.
3.
Violent distraction of mind; violent emotion; excessive grief of anxiety; insanity; madness.
[Obs.]
That unmatched form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with
ecstasy
.
Shakespeare
Our words will but increase his
ecstasy
.
Marlowe.
4.
(Med.)
A state which consists in total suspension of sensibility, of voluntary motion, and largely of mental power. The body is erect and inflexible; the pulsation and breathing are not affected.
Mayne.

Ec′sta-sy

,
Verb.
T.
To fill ecstasy, or with rapture or enthusiasm.
[Obs.]
The most
ecstasied
order of holy . . . spirits.
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ecstasy

EC'STASY

,
Noun.
[Gr. to stand.]
1.
Primarily, a fixed state; a trance; a state in which the mind is arrested and fixed, or as we say, lost; a state in which the functions of the senses are suspended by the contemplation of some extraordinary or supernatural object.
Whether what we call ecstasy be not dreaming with our eyes open, I leave to be examined.
2.
Excessive joy; rapture; a degree of delight that arrests the whole mind; as a pleasing ecstasy; the ecstasy of love; joy may rise to ecstasy.
3.
Enthusiasm; excessive elevation and absorption of mind; extreme delight.
He on the tender grass
Would sit and hearken even to ecstasy.
4.
Excessive grief or anxiety. [Not used.]
5.
Madness; distraction. [Not used.]
6.
In medicine, a species of catalepsy, when the person remembers, after the paroxysm is over, the ideas he had during the fit.

EC'STASY

,
Verb.
T.
To fill with rapture or enthusiasm.

Definition 2024

Ecstasy

Ecstasy

See also: ecstasy

English

Noun

Ecstasy ‎(uncountable)

  1. (slang) Alternative letter-case form of ecstasy ‎(“drug”)

German

Noun

Ecstasy n

  1. ecstasy (drug MDMA)

ecstasy

ecstasy

See also: Ecstasy

English

Alternative forms

Noun

ecstasy ‎(countable and uncountable, plural ecstasies)

Ecstasy (MDMA) tablets
  1. Intense pleasure.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act II, Scene 1,
      This is the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertakings / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures.
    • 1634, John Milton, Comus, lines 623-5,
      He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing; / Which when I did, he on the tender grass / Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy,
  2. A state of emotion so intense that a person is carried beyond rational thought and self-control.
    • 1938, George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia, Chapter 14,
      They were thrown into ecstasies of suspicion by finding that we possessed a French translation of Hitler's Mein Kampf.
  3. A trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation.
    • 1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, Act IV, Scene I,
      What! are you dreaming, Son! with Eyes cast upwards / Like a mad Prophet in an Ecstasy?
  4. (obsolete) Violent emotion or distraction of mind; excessive grief from anxiety; insanity; madness.
    • c. 1590, Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I,
      Come, let us leave him; in his ireful mood / Our words will but increase his ecstasy.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1,
      And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, / That suck'd the honey of his music vows, / Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, / Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh; / That unmatch'd form and feature of blown youth / Blasted with ecstasy.
  5. (slang) The drug MDMA, a synthetic entactogen of the methylenedioxyphenethylamine family, especially in a tablet form.
  6. (medicine, dated) A state in which sensibility, voluntary motion, and (largely) mental power are suspended; the body is erect and inflexible; but the pulse and breathing are not affected.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mayne to this entry?)

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (intense pleasure): agony

Related terms

Translations

Portuguese

Noun

ecstasy m (usually uncountable, plural ecstasys)

  1. ecstasy (drug)

Etymology

From Old French estaise ‎(“ecstasy, rapture”), from Late Latin extasis, from Ancient Greek ἔκστασις ‎(ékstasis), from ἐξίστημι ‎(exístēmi, “I displace”), from ἐκ ‎(ek, “out”) and ἵστημι ‎(hístēmi, “I stand”).

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