ravissant

See also: ravissànt

English

Three wolves ravissant on the arms of Danizy, a commune in northern France.

Etymology

French

Adjective

ravissant (not comparable)

1. (heraldry) In a half-raised position, as if about to spring on prey.
2. (heraldry) Devouring prey; raping.
   • 1889, Genealogist - Volume 6, page 57:

     The Counts of Miranda quarter this coat with (2 and 3):—Arg. two wolves passant in pale Sa., each ravissant a lamb of the first; within a bordure Gu. charged with eight aspas Or for Avellenada..

   • 1900, Honoré de Balzac, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, page 387:

     And it came to pass that Clément Chardin des Lupeaulx, whose father was ennobled by Louis XV., and bore quarterly; of the first, argent, a wolf sable, ravissant, carrying a lamb, gules; of the second, purpur, three buckles argent, two and one; of the third, barry of six, gules and argent; of the fourth, gules, a caduceus winged and wreathed with serpents, vert; with four griffins' claws for supporters; and EN LUPUS In HISTORIA for a motto, managed to wurmount his half-burlesque escutcheon with a Count's coronet.

3. (obsolete) Ravishing; exquisite.
   • 1855 December 22, Mrs. Worldly Mundane, “A Poor Husband on Bonnets”, in Punch, volume 29, page 244:

     In one word, it is so light, so pretty, so ravissant, and such a perfect dear, that EUGENIE herself could not help being jealous, if she were to see it.

   • 1861 January, “Granville De Vigne: A Tale of the Day”, in The New Monthly Magazine, volume 121, number 481, page 18:

     His dame chanced to have a niece—a niece, tradition says, with the loveliest complexion and the most ravissant auburn hair in the world , and with whom, when she visited her aunt, all Oppidans and Tugs who saw the beatific vision became straightway enamoured.

   • 1888 March 24, Eleanor C. Price, “Red Towers”, in All the Year Round, volume 42, number 1008:

     To me it is 'ravissant, ravissant' to the very utmost height, to sit here in this chair and see you in that one. It is all in life that is most exquisite.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁa.vi.sɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃

Participle

ravissant

1. present participle of ravir

Adjective

ravissant (feminine ravissante, masculine plural ravissants, feminine plural ravissantes)

1. ravishing, delightful, entrancing

Further reading

• “ravissant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.