charm

Etymology 1

From Middle English charme, from Old French charme (“chant, magic spell”), from Latin carmen (“song, incantation”).

noun

1. An object, act or words believed to have magic power (usually carries a positive connotation).
   a charm against evil
   It works like a charm.
2. (often in the plural) The ability to persuade, delight or arouse admiration.
   He had great personal charm.
   She tried to win him over with her charms.
3. A small trinket on a bracelet or chain, etc., traditionally supposed to confer luck upon the wearer.
   She wears a charm bracelet on her wrist.
4. (particle physics) A quantum number of hadrons determined by the number of charm quarks and antiquarks.
   Coordinate term: strangeness
   In trying to understand the long life of the psi particle, physicists postulated the notion of “charm.” Charm, they say, prevents the “easy” decay of particles and thus prolongs their lifetimes. U particles, Dr. Pert said, may carry the property of charm. 1975-07-31, Sandra Blakeslee, “Another Particle Believed Discovered”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Mesons which combine the charmed quark with the up or down antiquarks are denoted the D mesons. These mesons carry explicit charm (i.e. have a non-zero charm quantum number), just as the K mesons carry strangeness. 2020, James E. Dodd, Ben Gripaios, The Ideas of Particle Physics, Cambridge University Press, page 173
5. (finance) A second-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the instantaneous rate of change of delta with respect to time.
6. (graphical user interface, Microsoft Windows) An icon providing quick access to a command or setting.
   Undoubtedly one of the most important pieces to navigating Windows 8, charms are actually not visible until a command to show them is given. 2012, J. Peter Bruzzese, Using Windows 8

verb

1. To seduce, persuade or fascinate someone or something.
   He charmed her with his dashing tales of his days as a sailor.
2. (transitive) To use a magical charm upon; to subdue, control, or summon by incantation or supernatural influence.
   After winning three games while wearing the chain, Dan began to think it had been charmed.
3. To protect with, or make invulnerable by, spells, charms, or supernatural influences.
   She led a charmed life.
4. (obsolete, rare) To make music upon.
5. To subdue or overcome by some secret power, or by that which gives pleasure; to allay; to soothe.

Etymology 2

table Variant of chirm, from Middle English chirme, from Old English ċierm (“cry, alarm”), from Proto-Germanic *karmiz.

noun

1. The mixed sound of many voices, especially of birds or children.
   The laughter rose like the charm of starlings. 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber, published 2005, page 152
2. A flock, group (especially of finches).
   A charm of finches flew overhead, singing into the vivid afternoon sky. 2018, Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart