mesmerism
UK /ˈmɛz.məˌɹɪz.əm/ · US /ˈmɛz.mɚˌɪz.əm/ noun
Forms mesmerisms
- noun (loosely) The method or power of gaining control over someone's personality or actions.
- noun (strictly) The theory and practice of Mesmer himself or his disciples, which involved hypnosis and a superstructure of theory that included animal magnetism.
- noun The state induced by hypnotic methods (especially those of Mesmer himself).
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The art of inducing an extraordinary or abnormal state of the nervous system, in which the actor claims to control the actions, and communicate directly with the mind, of the recipient. See Animal magnetism, under Magnetism.
Etymology [From Mesmer, who first brought it into notice at Vienna, about 1775: cf. F. mesmérisme.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mesmerism”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details