charm English · revision 7706

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=la carmen}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʃɑːm/, /t͡ʃɑɹm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English charme, [[bor|fro|charme|t=magic charm, spell, incantation; song]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Latin [[m|la|carmen|t=song, verse, incantation]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from *canmen, with n dissimilated to r before m, from [[m|la|cano|alt=canere|t=to sing]] (see [[chant]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*keh₂n-|alt=*kan-|t=to sing]].^(Etymonline) The verb is from Old French charmer, from Late Latin carminare.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An incantation or magic spell: probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The notion is of chanting verses of magical power.^(Etymonline) The verb, to cast a spell, is from about 1300, and to win over or delight from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Anything worn to avert evil, an amulet, is from 1596, in Spenser's ''Faerie Queene'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the trinket worn on a bracelet from 1865, as an extension of it.^(Barnhart 1988) A pleasing quality is first recorded in 1598, in Shakespeare's ''Merry Wives of Windsor'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and fascinating attractiveness in general from 1830.^(OED 1989) Word Origins dates the ''charm offensive'' of politicians to the late 1970s.^(Cresswell 2021) In physics, a quantum number of certain elementary particles is a later sense.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a magic spell.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-15th century – to delight (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1596 – an amulet.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1598 – a pleasing quality.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1865 – a bracelet trinket.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 1970s – charm offensive.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The power of pleasing or [[attract|alt=attracting]] people; attractiveness.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A pleasing or attractive feature.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A small ornament worn on a [[bracelet]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An object worn for its supposed magical power to ward off evil; an [[amulet]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A magic [[spell]] or the words used in casting it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' A quantum number of certain elementary particles.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To attract or delight greatly.^(AHD)

+ # To persuade by personal attractiveness.^(AHD)

+ # To cast a spell on; to [[bewitch]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[charmingly]]

+ * [[charmless]]

+ * [[charmer]]

+ * [[charmlessly]]

+ * [[becharm]]

+ * [[charming]]

+ * [[charmonium]]

+ * [[outcharm]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chant]]

+ * [[enchant]]

+ * [[cantor]]

+ * [[carmen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate dialect charm, the mingled song or hum of birds or bees, is probably a folk-etymology alteration of [[chirm]];^(MWU 2024)^(Wright 1898) the EDD records it across the Midland and southern counties,^(Wright 1898) and Skeat and Mayhew cite it in Milton and Spenser.^(Skeat & Mayhew 1914)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}