Etymology

charm

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Today it means: An object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation). Full definition →

Middle English charme ← Old French charme ← Latin carmen
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charm · noun, verb1

  1. Latin · derived fromcarmen“song, incantation”
  2. Old French · derived fromcharme“chant, magic spell”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcharme
  4. English todaycharm

From Middle English charme, from Old French charme (“chant, magic spell”), from Latin carmen (“song, incantation”). Displaced native Old English lybb (“drug, poison, charm”).

charm · noun2

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*karmiz, *karm(j)az“cry, lament, calling sound”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*karm
  3. Old English · inherited fromċearm“cry, alarm”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromcharme
  5. English todaycharm

Synchronically a variant of chirm, but reflects Middle English charme (or unattested *charm), from Old English ċearm (“cry, alarm”), from Proto-West Germanic *karm, masculine variant of *karmi f, from Proto-Germanic *karmiz, *karm(j)az (“cry, lament, calling sound”). Near-doublet of chirm, which is from the feminine counterpart.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.