Dictionary.com Word Of The Day
Aug. 19, 2016
mesmerism\MEZ-muh-riz-uh m, MES-\noun
1. a compelling attraction; fascination.
2. hypnosis as induced, according to F. A. Mesmer, through animal
magnetism.
QuotesThere's a spell about the hand-organ and a mesmerism about
spinning round and round that no youngster can resist.
-- , "An Itinerant Merry-Go-Round in New York City," The Outlook,
Volume 132, SeptemberDecember, 1922
Origin of mesmerismMesmerism is an eponym formed on the basis of
Austrian physician Friedrich Anton Mesmer, who popularized the notion
of inducing a hypnotic state by animal magnetism. It entered English in
the late 1700s.More From Dictionary.comSubmit a favorite word for a
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