Today’s discussion centers around the Latin verb rapere, which denoted “seize” or “carry off”. The past participle, raptus, has left a lasting impact on our language. It transformed into the noun raptor in later Latin, signifying “thief”, and eventually transitioned to refer to a “bird of prey” in English. In Old French, it morphed into the verbs rapir and ravir, meaning “take by force”; by the fifteenth century, these evolved into English terms as rape and ravish, respectively. Within religious contexts, rapture came to represent a “state of mental transport”, akin to being carried away by God. Objects seized swiftly led to the emergence of rapidus and eventually rapid. Other words like ravine, usurp, ravenous, rapacious, rapt, and surreptitious can also be traced back to raptus – further exploration on these will be delved into in future discussions.
