charm

¹

[chahrm]

noun

1. a power of pleasing or attracting, as through personality or beauty: the charm of a mountain lake.

   charm of manner;

   the charm of a mountain lake.

   Synonyms: allurement, attractiveness

2. a trait or feature imparting this power.

3. charms, attractiveness.

4. a trinket to be worn on a bracelet, necklace, etc.

   Synonyms: bauble

5. something worn or carried on one's person for its supposed magical effect; amulet.

   Synonyms: talisman

6. any action supposed to have magical power.

   Synonyms: spell, enchantment

7. the chanting or recitation of a magic verse or formula.

8. a verse or formula credited with magical power.

   Synonyms: spell

9. Physics.,  a quantum number assigned the value +1 for one kind of quark, −1 for its antiquark, and 0 for all other quarks. C

verb (used with object)

1. to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc.; enchant.

   She charmed us with her grace.

   Synonyms: bewitch, allure, ravish, enrapture, entrance, captivate, fascinate

2. to act upon (someone or something) with or as with a compelling or magical force.

   to charm a bird from a tree.

3. to endow with or protect by supernatural powers.

4. to gain or influence through personal charm.

   He charmed a raise out of his boss.

verb (used without object)

1. to be fascinating or pleasing.

2. to use charms.

3. to act as a charm.

charm

²

[chahrm]

noun

British Dialect.

1. blended singing of birds, children, etc.

charm

¹

/ tʃɑːm /

noun

1. the quality of pleasing, fascinating, or attracting people

2. a pleasing or attractive feature

3. a small object worn or kept for supposed magical powers of protection; amulet; talisman

4. a trinket worn on a bracelet

5. a magic spell; enchantment

6. a formula or action used in casting such a spell

7. physics an internal quantum number of certain elementary particles, used to explain some scattering experiments

8. perfectly; successfully

verb

1. to attract or fascinate; delight greatly

2. to cast a magic spell on

3. to protect, influence, or heal, supposedly by magic

4. (tr) to influence or obtain by personal charm

   he charmed them into believing him

charm

²

/ tʃɑːm /

noun

1. dialect,  a loud noise, as of a number of people chattering or of birds singing

charm

1. One of the flavors of quarks, contributing to the charm number—a quantum number—for hadrons.

2. A charmed particle is a particle that contains at least one charmed quark or charmed antiquark. The charmed quark was hypothesized to account for the longevity of the J/psi particle and to explain differences in the behavior of leptons and hadrons.

3. See more at flavor

Other Word Forms

• charmedly adverb
• charmer noun
• charmless adjective
• charmlessly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of charm¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English charme “magical verse or incantation,” from Old French, from Latin carmen “song, magical formula,” from unattested canmen (by dissimilation), equivalent to can(ere) “to sing” + -men noun suffix

Origin of charm²

First recorded in 1520–30 as cherme, dialect variant of chirm “noise, din,” perhaps associated with charm ¹ ( def. ) (in the sense “chanting of a magic verse”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of charm¹

C13: from Old French charme, from Latin carmen song, incantation, from canere to sing

Origin of charm²

C16: variant of _chirm

Idioms and Phrases

• (charm the) pants off
• work like a charm

Example Sentences

But politics is also a business of charm and empathy.

From BBC

It was a privilege of this role to briefly cross paths with interesting, funny and charming characters, who led rich and colourful lives.

From BBC

Known for her charming breakout hit “Messy,” Young collapsed onstage Saturday during her performance on the New York stop of the All Things Go music festival.

From Los Angeles Times

One early reviewer has compared “Shadow Ticket’s” shaggy charm to cold pizza, and readers will know what he means.

From Los Angeles Times

"These villages, they are not so big and they lose their charm when there are so many tourists," she says.

From BBC

Related Words

• attract 
• beguile 
• bewitch 
• cajole 
• captivate 
• delight 
• enamor 
• enrapture 
• enthrall 
• fascinate 
• hypnotize 
• mesmerize 
• please 
• tickle 
• wow