mesmerist

mesmerist
mes·mer·ism (mĕz’mə-rĭz′əm, mĕs’-)
n. 1) A strong or spellbinding appeal; fascination. 2) Hypnotic induction believed to involve animal magnetism. 3) Hypnotism.
[After Franz MESMER(Cf. ↑Mesmer).]
mes·mer’ic (-mĕr’ĭk) adj. mes·mer’i·cal·ly adv. mes’mer·ist n.
Word History: Franz Anton Mesmer, a visionary 18th-century physician, believed cures could be effected by having patients do things such as sit with their feet in a fountain of magnetized water while holding cables attached to magnetized trees. Mesmer then came to believe that magnetic powers resided in himself, and during highly fashionable curative sessions in Paris he caused his patients to have reactions ranging from sleeping or dancing to convulsions. These reactions were actually brought about by hypnotic powers that Mesmer was unaware he possessed. Eventually, Mesmer's practices came to be called mesmerism (a term first recorded in English in 1784). The related word mesmerize (first recorded in English in 1829), having shed its reference to the hypnotic doctor, lives on in the sense "to enthrall."

Word Histories. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mesmerist — Mes mer*ist, n. One who practices, or believes in, mesmerism. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mesmerist — mesmerism ► NOUN 1) historical a therapeutic technique involving hypnotism. 2) hypnotism. DERIVATIVES mesmerist noun. ORIGIN named after the Austrian physician Franz A. Mesmer (1734 1815) …   English terms dictionary

  • mesmerist — noun see mesmerism …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • mesmerist — See mesmeric. * * * …   Universalium

  • mesmerist — noun one who mesmerizes …   Wiktionary

  • mesmerist — mes·mer·ist rəst n a practitioner of mesmerism …   Medical dictionary

  • mesmerist — mes·mer·ist || mezmÉ™rɪst n. hypnotist; advocate of mesmerism (theories of animal magnetism conceived by Franz Mesmer) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • mesmerist — mes·mer·ist …   English syllables

  • mesmerist — noun a person who induces hypnosis • Syn: ↑hypnotist, ↑hypnotizer, ↑hypnotiser, ↑mesmerizer • Derivationally related forms: ↑mesmerism (for: ↑mesmerizer), ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • mesmerism — mesmerist, n. /mez meuh riz euhm, mes /, n. 1. hypnosis as induced, according to F. A. Mesmer, through animal magnetism. 2. hypnotism. 3. a compelling attraction; fascination. [1775 85; MESMER + ISM] * * * …   Universalium

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