1. To ravish is to take someone by force, to force someone to engage in sexual intercourse or to experience extreme happiness.
   1. When you kidnap a child by force, this is an example of ravish.
   2. When a girl is raped, this is an example of ravish.
   3. When a wonderful play fills someone with intense delight, this is an example of ravish.

ravish

ravish

transitive verb

rav·ished, rav·ish·ing, rav·ish·es

1. To force (another) to have sexual intercourse; rape.
2. To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture: moviegoers who were ravished with delight.
3. Archaic To seize and carry away by force.

Origin of ravish

Middle English ravishen, from Old French ravir, raviss-, from Vulgar Latin *rapīre, from Latin rapere, to seize; see rep- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

• rav′ish·er

  noun

• rav′ish·ment

  noun

ravish

Verb

(third-person singular simple present ravishes, present participle ravishing, simple past and past participle ravished)

1. (usually passive) To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy.
2. (now rare) To rape.

Origin

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French raviss-, present participle stem of ravir (“to seize, take away hastily”), from Late Latin *rapire, from Latin rapere.

ravish - Legal Definition

v

To take by force or seize is the literal meaning of the word. It is generally synonymous with rape. Traditionally, an indictment for rape demanded inclusion of the word ravished, which implied use of force and or violence by the man and resistance by the female.