ecstasy

ecstasy
\ \ [14] Etymologically, someone who is ecstatic is out of his or her mind. The word comes, via Old French extasie and late Latin extasis, from Greek ékstasis, a derivative of the verb existánaidisplace, drive out of one’s mind’. This was a compound formed from the prefix ek- ‘out’ and histánaiplace’ (a distant relative of English stand). The underlying notion of being ‘beside oneself, in the grip of extreme passion’ survives in modern English in relation to mystic experiences or trances, and also, albeit archaically, in such phrases as ‘an ecstasy of rage’, and the specific sense ‘delight’ developed only comparatively recently, apparently in the 17th century.
\ \ Cf.STAND

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Ecstasy — wird gewöhnlich in Tablettenform verkauft Ecstasy, auch XTC u. a., ist die Sammelbezeichnung für eine Vielzahl von Phenylethylaminen; im Idealfall allein für MDMA (rac 3,4 Methylendioxy N methylamphetamin), ein entaktogenes Amphetamin. Ecstasy… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ecstasy — may mean: * MDMA or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a psychedelic drug sold under the street name ecstasy . * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance like state in which an individual transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a changed… …   Wikipedia

  • Ecstasy — • Offers details of false views Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ecstasy     Ecstasy     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • ecstasy — n Ecstasy, rapture, transport denote a feeling or a state of intense, sometimes excessive or extreme, mental and emotional exaltation. Ecstasy in its earlier sense, which is now found chiefly in religious and poetical writings, implies a… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • ECSTASY — ECSTASY, from Greek ekstasis, displacement, movement outwards, distraction of mind, drunken excitement, entrancement, or secondarily, astonishment. (See Mark 5:42.) In Greek religion two fundamental types of ecstasy, dionysiac and contemplative,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ecstasy — [ ɛkstazi ] n. f. • v. 1988; mot angl., proprt « extase » ♦ Drogue dérivée de l amphétamine, utilisée pour son effet désinhibiteur. ⇒ 2. x,anglic. Être sous ecstasy (ou être ecstasié ). Abrév. ECSTA . ● ecstasy nom masculin ou nom féminin …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Ecstasy — Ec sta*sy, n.; pl. {Ecstasies}. [F. extase, L. ecstasis, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to put out of place, derange; ? = ek out + ? 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ecstasy — [ek′stə sē] n. pl. ecstasies [ME & OFr extasie < LL(Ec) ecstasis < Gr ekstasis, a being put out of its place, distraction, trance < ek , out + histanai, to set: see STAND] 1. a state of being overpowered by emotion, as by joy, grief, or… …   English World dictionary

  • Ecstasy — Ec sta*sy, v. t. To fill ecstasy, or with rapture or enthusiasm. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The most ecstasied order of holy . . . spirits. Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ecstasy — is not the same experience as a vision or a dream [[➝ dreams]]; it is an awareness of being taken up outside oneself, and there are only a few such mystical moments recorded in the Bible. One is by Paul in 2 Cor. 12:2, when he mentions ‘a person… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • ecstasy — late 14c., in a frenzy or stupor, fearful, excited, from O.Fr. estaise ecstasy, rapture, from L.L. extasis, from Gk. ekstasis entrancement, astonishment; any displacement, in NT a trance, from existanai displace, put out of place, also drive out… …   Etymology dictionary

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