enchasten

English

Etymology

En- (an intensifying prefix) + chasten (to chastise, subdue, or render chaste).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛnˈt͡ʃeɪsən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɛnˈt͡ʃeɪsən/

Verb

enchasten (third-person singular simple present enchastens, present participle enchastening, simple past and past participle enchastened)

1. (rare, chiefly literary) Render chaste.
   • 1907, Harry Houdini Collection, The Arena, page 134:

     I am the Child that motherless must weep,
         To hallow and enchasten all the land;
     And I am motherhood that cannot sleep,
         Without the pressure of a tiny hand. […]

   • 2006, Henry Kirke White, The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White: With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, p77/83:

     […] And shall it e’er be said, that a poor hind,
     Nursed in the lap of Ignorance, and bred
     In want an labour, glows with nobler zeal
     To laud his maker’s attributes, while he
     Whom starry Science in her cradle rock’d,
     And Castaly enchasten’d with his dews,
     Closes his eyes upon the holy word,
     And, blind to all but arrogance and pride,
     Dares to declare his infidelity,
     And openly contemn the Lord of Hosts? […]

Anagrams

• enhancest