fixatev.
/fɪkˈseɪt/, /ˈfɪkseɪt/, U.S. /ˈfɪkˌseɪt/ 1. transitive. To fix; to render stable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > [verb (transitive)] > fixate or hold one emotion
fixate1885
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > make fast [verb (transitive)] > fasten or fix
steek?c1335
stick1372
ficchec1374
plant1381
inficche1382
fix14..
graft1531
graff1536
stick1586
rivet1600
stay1627
rig1835
splice1847
fixate1885
1885 Mind X. 560 The percipient..often judges on general grounds without laboriously fixating the sensation.
1887 Science 16 Dec. 293 To fixate and hold one sensation is an art that must be learned.
2. intransitive. To become fixed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > response > respond [verb (intransitive)] > fix attention on
fixate1888
1888 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 1 506 Some subjects fixate first and then the eyes close, or are closed by the operator.
3.
a. transitive. To direct the eyes upon, concentrate the gaze directly on.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (transitive)] > stare or gaze at
bestarec1220
bigapea1250
to gape atc1290
fix14..
to stick one's eyes in (also into)c1485
attacha1500
porec1500
to take feeding (of)c1500
stare1510
(to have) in gaze1577
gaze1591
outstare1596
over-stare1600
devour1628
trysta1694
ogle1795
begaze1802
toise1888
fixate1889
rubberneck1897
eyeball1901
1889 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 2 639 Carefully fixate the point marked, keeping the eye entirely from wandering.
1899 G. F. Stout Man. Psychol. 373 The object which is at any moment fixated by the two eyes.
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind iii. §5. 71 In fixation, the eye is turned until the fixated object falls upon the place of clearest vision.
1931 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 9 Let a subject fixate a point between two discs of different shades of grey.
1951 G. Humphrey Thinking ix. 268 Instructions were: to fixate no special point, but if fixation is necessary to direct attention towards the middle of the dividing line, [etc.].
1971 Sci. Amer. June 36/3 The subject must move his eyes and look around the picture, fixating each part he wants to see clearly.
b. Psychology. Originally, in Freudian theory: to cause (a component of the libido) to be arrested at an immature stage leading a person to abnormal attachments to people or things, etc.; (hence) to cause (a person) to react automatically to stimuli in terms which relate to a previous strong emotional experience; to establish (a response) in this way. Usually passive or as fixated adj. established or responding in this way; also loosely, obsessed with. Cf. fixation n. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > [adjective] > looking at or beholding > looked at or seen
observed1549
viewed1640
observate1652
aspected1661
fixated1926
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > theories of Freud > child's desire for parent > [verb (transitive)] > arrest development of
fixate1926
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [adjective] > obsessed with
fixated1926
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > obsessive [verb (transitive)] > cause fixation
fixate1926
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > response > respond [verb (transitive)] > cause response
fixate1951
1926 W. McDougall Outl. Abnormal Psychol. 133 According to this theory [sc. the theory of the Œdipus complex] the libido..of every infant normally becomes fixated upon the parent of the opposite sex.
1945 ‘G. Orwell’ Crit. Ess. (1951) 185 It is clear that for many years he remained ‘fixated’ on his old school.
1951 N. E. Miller in S. S. Stevens Handbk. Exper. Psychol. 443 When animals that have learned a specific habit..are given a few electric shocks at the choice point, it ‘fixates’ their behaviour.
1952 W. J. H. Sprott Social Psychol. ix. 180 Furthermore..frustration may give rise to a response..which gets ‘fixated’ and is repeated in the frustrating situation over and over again, irrespective of its uselessness.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Jan. 14/1 As a nation, we became fixated to the transitory moment of our victory.
1957 C. M. Anderson Beyond Freud i. 13 The person who is ‘fixated at the anal level’ has traits supposedly characteristic of the child from one to three years.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Mar. 159/3 The build~up is good: a rich, crippled husband, fixated on his only son; a nymphomaniac wife, [etc.].
1962 C. E. Buxton in Hilgard Introd. Psychol. (ed. 3) xvii. 480/1 An individual may in some sense have remained immature by being fixated or caught at one stage of development.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
v.1885