English Explanatory Dictionary

mesmerism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The method or power of gaining control over someone's personality or actions, as in hypnosis or suggestion.
  2. The state induced by hypnotic methods (especially that of Mesmer himself).

Pronunciation

/ˈmɛz.məˌɹɪz.əm/ /ˈmɛz.mɚˌɪz.əm/ /ˈmez.məˌɹɪz.əm/ en-au-mesmerism.ogg

Word forms

mesmerism mesmerisms

Etymology

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

Related words

hypnosis somnolism

Derived words

mesmeric phrenomesmerism mesmerist mesmerize mesmerized mesmerizing

Translations

Finnish: mesmerismi Galician: mesmerismo German: Mesmerismus Hindi: मेस्मरिज्म Korean: 메스머주의 Portuguese: mesmerismo Spanish: mesmerismo Swedish: mesmerism
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on M Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary