enchantment
/ɪnˈt͡ʃænt.mənt/
enchantment means the act of enchanting or the feeling of being enchanted. It carries an Arena rating of 1928, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, enchantment ranks #84 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #139 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #680 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,172 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
enchantment is pronounced /ɪnˈt͡ʃænt.mənt/.
Why “enchantment” is a great word
The state of being under a magical spell or the captivating charm that results from such bewitchment. From Middle English *enchauntement*, via Anglo-French and Old French *enchantement*, from Latin *incantāmentum* ("a magical formula, spell"), itself from *incantāre* ("to chant a spell upon, bewitch"), first attested in the late 13th century. Unlike "spell" (which specifies the formulaic words or ritual) or "fascination" (which implies a powerful psychological allure without magical residue), enchantment retains the old, deep resonance of literal magic suffusing the mundane world. It is the twilight stillness of a sun-dappled forest held in a trance, the uncanny rightness of a melody heard in a dream, or the sudden scent of jasmine in a room long abandoned—the haunting suspicion that the real world is merely a spell we have all, gratefully, agreed to believe.
Etymology
From Middle English enchauntement, from Old French enchantement.
noun
- The act of enchanting or the feeling of being enchanted.
- Something that enchants; a magical spell.e.g.“Bodin, the medieval demonographer, enumerates various methods of producing anaphrodisiac effects by enchantments.” — 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 89:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.