2579: charm & oscine Jan 5, 2022

One might not think so by looking, but 'charm' and 'oscine' are related to each other. 'Oscine', which means 'related to a songbird', and while he prefix 'os-' is a mutation from 'ob-' (towards), the remaining '-cine/-cen' doesn't look that similar either. Both 'charm' [1] and 'obscen', here in its nominal form, are related to the Latin 'carmen' and come from the verb 'canere' (to sing). In Latin, '-cen' is tacked onto the ends of instruments as well to denote players thereof, such as 'lyricen' (lyrist) or 'tubicen' (tubaist; trumpetist).

2577: charm & charisma Jan 3, 2022

The words 'charm' and 'charisma' are not related, though this fact is often confused in particular because of how they are used for certain Biblical translations as it pertains to the Holy Spirit. 'Charisma' is from the Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khárisma) for 'grace; gift', ultimately from χαίρω (khaírō) meaning 'I am happy'. 'Charm' on the other hand, both as it relates to magic and to personality types comes from the Latin 'carmen' which meant both 'song' and 'incantation', or as it were 'chant' and 'enchant'. Both terms have been used for translating ideas of speaking in tongues or other trance-like experiences.