mesmerize

****************************************************************
Do you enjoy challenging word games? Try WORD SWEEP!, the new board game 
featuring official Merriam-Webster definitions!
http://www.wordsweep.com
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 5 is:

mesmerize   \MEZ-muh-ryze\   verb 
     1 : hypnotize 
    *2 : spellbind, fascinate
        
Example sentence:
     The audience was mesmerized by the performance of the circus acrobats on 
the trapeze.

Did you know?
     Experts can't agree on whether Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) was a quack 
or a genius, but all concede that the late 18th-century physician's name is the 
source of the word "mesmerize." In his day, Mesmer was the toast of Paris, 
where he enjoyed the support of notables including Queen Marie Antoinette. He 
treated patients with a force he termed "animal magnetism." Many believe that 
what he actually used was what we now call "hypnotism." Mesmer's name was first 
applied to a technique for inducing hypnosis by one of his students in 1784.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





You Are Subscribed As: gclw-mw-wod7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2007 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102