Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to mesmerism; produced by mesmerism, or resembling its effects: as, the mesmcric theory; mesmeric sleep.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of, pertaining to, or induced by, mesmerism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of or relating to mesmerism or mesmerization

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective attracting and holding interest as if by a spell

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I can even perceive some faint possibility of truth in the explanation which you described as the mesmeric theory — that what I saw might be the result of magnetic influence communicated to me, as I lay between the remains of the murdered husband above me and the guilty wife suffering the tortures of remorse at my bedside.

    The Haunted Hotel 2003

  • I can even perceive some faint possibility of truth in the explanation which you described as the mesmeric theory -- that what I saw might be the result of magnetic influence communicated to me, as I lay between the remains of the murdered husband above me and the guilty wife suffering the tortures of remorse at my bedside.

    The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice 1879

  • He specialized in mesmeric, often nightmarish visions of scenes from Shakespeare, Milton and Norse mythology.

    New Letters from Charles Brown to Joseph Severn 2007

  • Interestingly a note by Schelling's son on the 1813 text points to the absence of the will-ing subject from magnetic sleep: in mesmeric sleep [magnetischen

    'The Abyss of the Past': Psychoanalysis in Schelling's Ages of the World (1815) 2008

  • You are aware that I possess in rather a remarkable degree what we have agreed to call the mesmeric power.

    Roundabout Papers 2006

  • I was immediately conscious that in his eyes there was, in an especial degree, what, for want of a better term, one may call the mesmeric quality.

    The Beetle Richard Marsh

  • The sense of touch is also brought into play in hypnosis; Richet set great value on the so-called mesmeric strokes or passes.

    Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine 1896

  • The sense of touch is also brought into play in hypnosis; Richet set great value on the so-called mesmeric strokes or passes.

    Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine 1896

  • You are aware that I possess in rather a remarkable degree what we have agreed to call the mesmeric power.

    The Lock and Key Library Classic Mystery and Detective Stories: Old Time English Julian Hawthorne 1890

  • From the Jesuits, in childhood, he received religious impressions which might almost be described as mesmeric or hypnotic in their influence upon his nerves.

    Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2 The Catholic Reaction John Addington Symonds 1866

Comments

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  • Perhaps this word came to be thanks to Mesmer, the 18th century scientist who studied magnetism and mysticism?

    November 24, 2015