To vanquish

[khinterberg]

No: HPFGUIDX 119551


Replying to my own post here, I work at a library so today I got out
the Oxford and looked up "vanquish" there.  Now THIS was much more
interesting.

1. overcome or defeat (an opponent or enemy) in conflict or battle
b.  overcome by spiritual power 
c.  expel or banish from a place
2.  overcome (a person) by some means other than physical conflict
3.  subdue, suppress, put an end to, (a feeling, state of things, etc.)
4.  win or gain ( a battle or other contest).
5. be victorious, gain victory


I particularly like definition 2!

khinterberg


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "khinterberg" <khinterberg at y...>
wrote:
> 
> In light of all the recent posts about the nature of what "vanquish"
> actually means, I decided to look it up.   
> 
> van·quish   Audio pronunciation of "vanquish" ( P )  Pronunciation Key
>  (vngkwsh, vn-)
> tr.v. van·quished, van·quish·ing, van·quish·es
> 
>    1.
>          1. To defeat or conquer in battle; subjugate.
>          2. To defeat in a contest, conflict, or competition.
>    2. To overcome or subdue (an emotion, for example); suppress: "She
> had had to wrench herself forcibly away from Katharine, and every step
> vanquished her desire" (Virginia Woolf). See Synonyms at defeat.
> 
> [Middle English vaynquisshen, from Old French vainquir, vainquiss-,
> from Latin vincere. See weik-3 in Indo-European Roots.]
> 
> v : come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat
> Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition";
> "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game" [syn: beat, beat
> out, crush, shell, trounce]
> 
> \Van"quish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Vanquished; p. pr. & vb. n.
> Vanquishing.] [OE. venquishen, venquissen, venkisen,F. vaincre, pret.
> vainquis, OF. veintre, pret. venqui, venquis (cf. an OF. infin.
> vainquir), fr. L. vincere; akin to AS. w[=i]g war, battle, w[=i]gant a
> warrior, w[=i]gan to fight, Icel. v[=i]g battle, Goth. weihan to
> fight, contend. Cf. Convince, Evict, Invincible, Victor.] 1. To
> conquer, overcome, or subdue in battle, as an enemy. --Hakluyt.
> 
> They . . . Vanquished the rebels in all encounters. --Clarendon.
> 
> 2. Hence, to defeat in any contest; to get the better of; to put down;
> to refute.
> 
> This bold assertion has been fully vanquished in a late reply to the
> Bishop of Meaux's treatise. --Atterbury.
> 
> For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still. --Goldsmith.
> 
> Syn: To conquer; surmount; overcome; confute; silence. See Conquer.
> 
> 
> So on I went to the synonyms, searching for more information.
> 
> de·feat   Audio pronunciation of "defeat" ( P )  Pronunciation Key 
(d-ft)
> tr.v. de·feat·ed, de·feat·ing, de·feats
> 
>    1. To win victory over; beat.
>    2. To prevent the success of; thwart: Internal strife defeats the
> purpose of teamwork.
>    3. Law. To make void; annul.
> 
> snipped from synonyms of defeat:
> 
> Synonyms: defeat, conquer, vanquish, beat, rout, subdue, subjugate,
> overcome
> These verbs mean to triumph over an adversary. Defeat is the most
general.
> Vanquish emphasizes total mastery: Napoleon's forces were vanquished
> at Waterloo.
> 
>  3. To overcome or vanquish, as an army; to check, disperse, or ruin
> by victory; to overthrow.
> 
>  
> So after all this, it can be concluded that death does not need to be
> involved in the act of vanquishing, but that Harry would need to
> completely prevent Voldemort from reaching his goals.
> 
> I'm sure many of you have looked this up before, just thought it might
> be nice to have around.
> 
> khinterberg, who, upon looking up vanquish, found than an alternate
> definition is a disease of sheep in which they "pine away", and is now
> picturing Voldemort as a fluffy white sheep looking thoroughly dejected