While not typically a wrench-throw into fantasy prose, it does have historical context. Named after the Australian physician (sorry, I said physicist in the video), Franz Anton Mesmer, the term “mesmerize” became popular in 1798 when the good doctor postulated his theory that there is a mysterious fluid in our systems that is susceptible to suggestion by others.
Sinister!
Now frequently interchangeable with hypnotize, it’s technically not the same theory presented by Mesmer. Additionally, hypnosis as a practice was originally coined in 1849 by Dr. James Braid as “braidism.”
