mesmerism
English edit
Etymology edit
From French mesmérisme, analysable as Mesmer + -ism; so called after Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), a German physician who developed the animal magnetism theory.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
mesmerism (countable and uncountable, plural mesmerisms)
- The method or power of gaining control over someone's personality or actions, as in hypnosis or suggestion.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 23, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- What is the secret mesmerism which friendship possesses, and under the operation of which a person ordinarily sluggish, or cold, or timid, becomes wise, active, and resolute, in another's behalf?
- The state induced by hypnotic methods (especially that of Mesmer himself).
- 2010, Mark Twain, Autobiography of Mark Twain, volume 2, page 302:
- ...the fact stood proven that I had seen it in my vision. Lawks! ...When the magician's engagement closed there was but one person in the village who did not believe in mesmerism, and I was the one. All the others were converted, but I was to remain an implacable and unpersuadable disbeliever in mesmerism and hypnotism for close upon fifty years.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
mesmerism
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See also edit
Further reading edit
- “mesmerism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “mesmerism”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French mesmérisme.
Noun edit
mesmerism n (uncountable)
Declension edit
declension of mesmerism (singular only)
| singular | ||
|---|---|---|
| n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
| nominative/accusative | (un) mesmerism | mesmerismul |
| genitive/dative | (unui) mesmerism | mesmerismului |
| vocative | mesmerismule | |