Wordwyrt

charmer

/ˈtʃɑːmə/CHAHR-mur
/ˈtʃɑɹmɚ/CHAHR-mur

Meaningone who charms

Common meaning: someone who wins people over easily

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kas-‘praise, report, speak’source
  2. Latincarmen‘a song’source
  3. Old Frenchcharmesource
  4. Middle Englishcharmesource
  5. Englishcharm‘attractiveness’
  6. Englishformed in English from charmcharmer‘someone who wins people over easily’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from charm + -er.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), CHARM, p.104 · scan

Source words

  • carmen Latin · source word “a song”

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