[ME. charme, a. F. charme charm:—L. carmen song, verse, oracular response, incantation.]
1. orig. The chanting or recitation of a verse supposed to possess magic power or occult influence; incantation, enchantment; hence, any action, process, verse, sentence, word, or material thing, credited with such properties; a magic spell; a talisman, etc.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28521. With charm and coniurisun, wende i womman to bewile.
c. 1340. Ayenb., 43. Be charmes oþer be wychecreft.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1854. To othere woundes and to broken armes Somme hadden salues and somme hadden charmes.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XX. 19. Ich haue saued with þis charme Of men and of wymmen meny score þousend.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 947. Now thies charmys and enchauntementtes are cheuit to noght.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 70. Charme, incantacio.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, V. (1822), 462. Quhen M. Fabius … wes sittand in his chiar, makand charmis [præfante carmen] of his maner to the sacrifice of Goddis.
1586. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., I. (1594), 67. The serpent … stoppeth hir eares with hir taile, to the end she may not heare the charmes and sorceries of the inchanter.
1610. Shaks., Temp., V. i. 31. My Charmes Ile breake, their sences Ile restore.
1649. Milton, Eikon., Pref. (1851), 336. Any charme, though never so wisely murmur’d.
1676. Dryden, Aureng-z., IV. i. 1955. His Name alone … Repeated as a Charm.
1817. Byron, Manfred, I. i. 35. I call upon ye by the written charm Which gives me power upon you.
1858. J. Martineau, Stud. Chr., 46. The name [i.e., charm] … denotes any material object or outward act, the possession or use of which is thought to confer safety or blessing, not by natural operation, but by occult virtues inherent in it, or mystical effects appended to it.
b. Anything worn about the person to avert evil or ensure prosperity; an amulet.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., I. ii. 18. Curse on that Cross … Dead long ygoe, I wote, thou haddest bin, Had not that charme from thee forwarned itt.
1693. W. Robertson, Phraseol. Gen., 86. An Amulet or Inchantment and Charm hung about one’s neck or wrest against witchcraft.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, vii. 84. Dame Fulton tied a charm round her neck to prevent her being wounded by any venomous reptile.
1832. Lander, Exp. Niger, I. xi. 72. The horse’s head was loaded with charms and fetishes.
1838–42. Arnold, Hist. Rome (1846), II. xi. 407. He was very much afraid of thunder and lightning and always carried about with him a seal skin, as a charm against its power.
2. fig. (cf. spell.)
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. Prol. 6. Alike bewitched by the charme of lookes.
1665–9. Boyle, Occas. Refl., II. vii. Cards and Company will give them enough to prove a Charm against Thinking.
1875. Stubbs, Const. Hist., I. iv. 59. On whom the charm of the Roman name had no power.
3. fig. Any quality, attribute, trait, feature, etc., which exerts a fascinating or attractive influence, exciting love or admiration. In pl., esp. of female beauty, great personal attractions.
[1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 107. I neuer knew a woman so doate vpon a man; surely I thinke you haue charmes, la…. Not I, I assure thee; setting the attraction of my good parts aside, I haue no other charmes.]
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., III. 112. All she said and did was full of Charms.
1712–4. Pope, Rape Lock, IV. 4. Scornful virgins who their charms survive.
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., I. § 1. Every thing has, in that stage of life, the charm of novelty to recommend it.
1770. Goldsm., Des. Vill., 289. Slights every borrow’d charm that dress supplies.
1841. Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 29. A mole is considered an additional charm.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 75. When parted by the sea from the charms which had so strongly fascinated him.
Mod. (Statue) Venus hiding her charms.
b. (without pl.) Fascinating quality; charmingness, attractiveness.
1830. D’Israeli, Chas. I., III. vi. 111. Something of the charm of fiction is thrown into the historical composition.
1878. Morley, Diderot, I. 41. To Diderot we go not for charm of style, but for a store of fertile ideas.
1877. Mrs. Forrester, Mignon, I. 5. Her charm is chiefly dependant upon expression.
c. Charms (U.S. slang): Money.
† 4. ? A conjuration, adjuration (cf. CHARM v. 6).
a. 1734. North, Exam., II. iv. ¶ 125. She knocked him up at Midnight, with Charms of Secrecy; for, said she, if my Friends come to know I have been with you, I am undone.
5. A small ornament or trinket worn fastened to a watch-chain or girdle. (From sense 1 b.)
1865. Look before you Leap, I. 227. A small charm, in the shape of a heart.
1870. Miss Bridgman, R. Lynne, I. x. 155. Rose’s watch and bunch of charms.
6. Comb., as charm-reader, -ring; charm-bound, pple. and adj.; charm-built, -like, -struck, etc., adjs.
1800. Coleridge, Piccolom., I. ix. Inextricably … In this name hath my destiny *charm-bound me.
1804. Leyden, Mermaid, ad fin. The charm-bound sailors.
1791. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., II. 69. Amid her *charm-built towers.
1868. Ld. Houghton, Select. fr. Wks., 162. *Charm-engirdled isle.
1886. Cornh. Mag., July, 55. The *charm-reader, the fortune-teller, and the medicine man are plentiful in the market.
1877. W. Jones, Finger-ring L., 133. In the Braybrooke Collection is a bone *charm-ring.
1865. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit., iii. 115. I saw pass some mountain-nymph *charm-struck by the night.
