Charmian

English

Etymology

Diminutive form of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek χάρμα (khárma, “joy”). According to Plutarch, the name of a servant and advisor of Cleopatra.

Proper noun

Charmian

1. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • ~1607 William Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra: Act I, Scene III:

     Help me away, dear Charmian, I shall fall:

   • 1979 Mary McMullen: But Nellie Was So Nice. Doubleday 1979. page 23:

     Charmian Lyle had given herself her first name at the age of sixteen, upon encountering it in an English novel. Her baptismal name was Ethel. When her husband Walter was extremely angry with her, he called her Ethel. Charmian, she thought, suited her much better. She didn't think she looked, felt, or sounded like Ethel. Nor like her middle name, which she really detested, Edna.

Anagrams

• chairman