mesmerism

Contents

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 5 March 2016

An 1849 portrait of Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) by Jules Porreau

EtymologyEdit

From French mesmérisme, analysable as Mesmer +‎ -ism; so called after Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), a German physician who developed the animal magnetism theory.

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛzməˌɹɪzəm/
• Hyphenation: mes‧mer‧ism

NounEdit

mesmerism (countable and uncountable, plural mesmerisms)

1. The method or power of gaining control over someone's personality or actions, as in hypnosis or suggestion.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 23:

     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?

2. The state induced by hypnotic methods (especially that of Mesmer himself).

Derived termsEdit

• mesmeric
• mesmerist
• mesmerize
• mesmerized
• mesmerizing

TranslationsEdit

mesmerism

• German: Mesmerismus (de) m (historical)

See alsoEdit

• hypnosis
• somnolism

Further readingEdit

• mesmerism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• mesmerism in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911