charisma

See also: Charisma

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khắrĭsmă, “grace, favour, gift”), from χᾰρῐ́ζομαι (khărĭ́zomai, “to show favor”), from χᾰ́ρῐς (khắrĭs, “grace”), from the same root χαρ- (khar-) as χαίρω (khaírō, “to be happy”). Doublet of charism. First attested in 1875.

Outside of theology, as early as 1930, charisma was found in a translation of a book written by German sociologist Max Weber, which OED and Etymonline regards as a semantic loan from German Charisma, denoting the special ability of certain leaders to inspire devotion (sense 1). By the 1940s and more clearly in the 1950s, the term was used more loosely to refer to personal charm in general (sense 1.1).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɪzmə/

  • Audio (Texas):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Noun

charisma (usually uncountable, plural charismas or charismata)

2. A gift or power of leadership or authority. [from 1930]

   The leader has his charisma.

   2. The capacity to inspire devotion or enthusiasm; personal charm. [from 1959]

      the charisma of a popular actor

3. (Christianity, theology) A gift or power bestowed upon a person by the Holy Spirit; a grace. [from 1875]

   Synonym: charism

Synonyms

• charm, spell

Derived terms

• charismaless
• charismania
• charismatic

Translations

personal charm or magnetism — see also charm,‎ game

• Arabic: هَيْبَة f (hayba), كَارِيزْمَا f (kārīzmā)
• Armenian: խարիզմա (hy) (xarizma), հմայք (hy) (hmaykʻ), թովչանք (hy) (tʻovčʻankʻ)
• Asturian: carisma m
• Belarusian: хары́зма f (xarýzma)
• Catalan: carisma (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 個人魅力 / 个人魅力 (gèrén mèilì), 人格魅力 (zh) (réngé mèilì)

• Dutch: charisma (nl) n
• Esperanto: karismo
• Finnish: karisma (fi)
• French: charisme (fr) m
• Galician: carisma (gl) m
• Georgian: ქარიზმა (karizma)
• German: Ausstrahlung (de) f, Charisma (de) n
• Greek: χάρισμα (el) n (chárisma)

  Ancient Greek: χάρισμα n (khárisma)

• Hebrew: כריזמה (he) f
• Hungarian: karizma (hu)
• Indonesian: karisma (id)
• Italian: carisma (it) m
• Japanese: カリスマ (ja) (karisuma), シャルム (sharumu), 魅力 (ja) (みりょく, miryoku)
• Korean: 매력 (ko) (maeryeok)
• Māori: mana ātahu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: karisma m

• Persian: کاریزما (fa) (kârizmâ), کرشمه (fa) sg (kirišma)
• Polish: charyzma (pl) f
• Portuguese: carisma (pt) m
• Romanian: carismă f, charismă f
• Russian: хари́зма (ru) f (xarízma), обая́ние (ru) n (obajánije), шарм (ru) m (šarm), очарова́ние (ru) n (očarovánije)
• Serbo-Croatian: karìzma (sh) f
• Slovak: charizma (sk) f
• Spanish: carisma (es) m
• Swedish: karisma (sv) c, utstrålning (sv) c
• Thai: เสน่ห์ (th) (sà-nèe)
• Turkish: karizma (tr), çekicilik (tr), albeni (tr)
• Ukrainian: хари́зма (uk) f (xarýzma)
• Urdu: کرشمہ f (karišma)

extraordinary power granted by the Holy Spirit — see charism

ability to influence without the use of logic

References

• “charisma, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• “charisma”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• archaism, machairs

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khắrĭsmă).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌxaːˈrɪs.maː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cha‧ris‧ma
• Rhymes: -ɪsmaː

Noun

charisma n (plural charisma's or charismata, no diminutive)

1. (Christianity) charisma (gift of the Holy Spirit)

   Synonym: genadegave

2. charisma (personal affability)

Derived terms

• charismaticus
• charismatisch

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khắrĭsmă, “grace, favour, gift”).

Noun

charisma n (genitive charismatis); third declension

1. gift, present, favor
2. spiritual gift, gift of God, God-given grace

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	charisma	charismata
genitive	charismatis	charismatum
dative	charismatī	charismatibus
accusative	charisma	charismata
ablative	charismate	charismatibus
vocative	charisma	charismata

References

• “charisma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “charisma”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “charisma”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎^[1], London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC