captivatress

English

Etymology

From captivator +‎ -ess.

Noun

captivatress (plural captivatresses)

1. A female captivator.

   Synonym: captivatrix

   • 1795, Ann Yearsley, The Royal Captives: A Fragment of Secret History. Copied from an Old Manuscript, […], volume III, London: […] G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], page 223:

     According to the deſcription Famminée (ſo was the Nurſe called) has given me, this concealed captivatreſs muſt be lodged near the ſubterraneous cell.

   • 1810, “The Nephew and Aunt”, in The Soldier of Pennaflor: or, A Season in Ireland. A Tale of the Eighteenth Century., volume IV, Cork: […] John Connor, […], page 132:

     Every hour now stolen from the avocations of his duty, Sedly spent with his witching captivatress, from whom he learned, that she was the disobedient, disinherited, though only daughter of his benefactor, his patron, lord Donaldson!

   • 1860 June, “Froth”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XXI, number CXXI, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], pages 75–76:

     “Let me see—yes—I’ll be there. My sister Carrie wants to hear Piccolomini sing ‘Batti, batti,’ once more—I’ll take her and Edith, and see who this mysterious captivatress of yours may be.” / “No captivatress, but a dear good girl, who has sense, refinement, intellect—every thing, except money—that she hasn’t got any very large amount of, I confess.”

   • 1875 July, Francis W[illiam] Newman, “Essay on Poetical Translation”, in Fraser’s Magazine, new series, volume XII, number LXVII, London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], page 93:

     Who so vëritably wïse did the / Cäptivatress näme, / The spëar-espousèd Hëlen,³ prize of strïfe?

     ³ The poet translates the name Helen to mean captivatress.

   • 1887, [Charles Mackay], “A Little Love Affair, or what seems to be so”, in The Twin Soul or, The Strange Experiences of Mr. Rameses. A Psychological and Realistic Romance., volume II, London: Ward and Downey, […], pages 132–133:

     He was not impelled to any hasty course of action as long as he could sun himself in the warmth and light of love, not the less ardent because it was secret from all eyes and knowledge but those of the fair captivatress of his heart.

   • 1915 December 14, The Democrat-News, volume 1, number 167, Lewistown, Mont., page three:

     BIJOU / BLANCHE RING / The Magnetic Captivatress / In / “The Yankee Girl” / A Comedy Drama of a Copper Feud in the Tropics

   • 1919 November 1, Lawton Mackall, “The Show Shop: Fair Proportions”, in Judge, volume 77, number 1985, New York, N.Y.: Leslie-Judge Company, page 24, column 2:

     A sub-deb sister, permitted a timid shine at the beginning of the first act before the Grand Entrance, informs the audience that four interesting men are in love with the heroine—a rising Congressman, a Marine, a Social Lion, and an ex-Aviator Hero—so that the audience confidently expects a captivatress.

   • 1928, William Moulton Marston, “Love Mechanisms”, in Emotions of Normal People, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company; London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., pages 332, 334, and 336:

     The male becomes a constant attendant upon his captivatress, obeying her spoken commands and seeking to submit to her inarticulate emotional nature in every way possible. […] After bodily relationship is established, however, the outstanding feature of male response is apt to be an attempt to assume the rôle of captivatress as expeditiously as possible. […] We find numerous evidences in such literature as the Arabian Nights, that Oriental potentates, while indulging in love, are sufficiently intelligent to surrender their bodies completely over to the ministration and control of their captivatresses.

   • 1933, C[harles] Daly King, Obelists at Sea, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, pages 167 and 204:

     Although I saw her only twice, and each time for a very short period, I have no question in my mind but that she is a natural captivatress of men; […] And then they get married, and the trouble begins. The wife is no longer captivatress; […]

   • 1940 May 5, Charlie Roberts, “Children Event Please Crowd At Horse Show: Little Carolyn Hogan on Billy Sunday Wins Lead Line Class”, in The Atlanta Constitution, volume LXXII, number 328, Atlanta, Ga., page eight B, column 5:

     Fine Harness (Three-Year-Old) — 1. American Girl, owned by Fred Corkran; 2. Star on Parade, owned by J. T. Russell; 3. Captivatress, owned by D. D. Maner; 4. My Own Barrymore, owned by Walter A. Harris.

   • 1945 April 7, “Advanced Registry Report No. 13”, in Holstein-Friesian World, volume 42, number 7, Lacona, N.Y.: Holstein-Friesian World, Inc., page (89) 577:

     Meadowcreek W S Queen Captivatress 2298571 (V.G.) (Springbank Captivator Re-Echo)

   • 2017, Stephen E. Hefling, “Justine Mahler’s Faust Notebook: An Introduction”, in Jeremy Barham, editor, Rethinking Mahler, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, section III (Varieties of Historical and Aeshetic Experience), page 273:

     Walter also says of Lipiner that ‘neither was he lacking in women . . . It was natural that Lipiner, a poet so passionately devoted to life, should again and again be taken captive by love.’ One such captivatress was Natalie Bauer-Lechner.