Etymology

animal magnetism

Today it means: Sexual attractiveness; charisma derived from non-intellectual characteristics. Full definition →

French magnétisme animal
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The story

  1. French · calque ofmagnétisme animal
  2. English todayanimal magnetism

Calque of French magnétisme animal; 18th century. The pseudoscientific sense (sense 2) predates the sense that is now the more common one.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.