|
We now move away from the field of Germanic etymology into the Mediterranean realms of Latin. "Charm" is descended from the Latin word "carmen," meaning song. Beyond this primary meaning, "carmen" could also mean a charm or incantation, and it is in this meaning that it carried over into English. We did not receive it directly from Latin, however, but from the Old French "charme," in which form it passed into Middle English, as we saw in the last section. "To charm" was originally, as most verbs were back then, a separate word. The Old French form was "charmer," which developed into the Middle English "charmin." Someone who casted charms was called a "charmere" or a "charmeresse," in Middle English, depending on their gender, of course. "Charming" was the operation of using such charms. That form, while archaic, still exists in Modern English, along with "charmer" and "charmeress," which dropped their final "e's" as did "charme." The connotations of these words moved beyond singing and incanting in the times of Middle English. Chaucer, for instance, uses "charmeresses" to mean "fortune tellers." Unlike "spell," which developed negative connotations, "charm" has retained primarily positive connotations. The word has become close in meaning to "fascination," in the more "occult" sense of that word. A snake charmer, for example, fascinates a snake, but not with words. He uses music and motion. A "charm," despite its etymology, can now denote an amulet or other magical device of protection, however devoid of wording or lettering it may be. The phrase "charmed life" simply means a life protected by, or as if by, charms, either in the original sense of "charm" or in the sense above. In the modern day, few people associate the word "charming" with magic. Even fewer will associate it with singing or recital. It has sunk to a rather banal position of denoting pleasing or nice. "How charming, darling..." We probably have the concept of "feminine charms" to blame for this. What originally denoted the ability to fascinate, now simply means attractive. Of course, we see a parallel descent in the meaning of "fascination," and we will see it again in "glamour," in due time. |