Charm comes into English via French from Latin carmen (“song,” “poem,” “incantation”), which is linked with canere (“sing,” “recite,” “say in a sing-song voice”) and cantare (“sing,” “declaim,” “chant”). The Latin words refer to chanting or speaking words rhythmically, and hence to the recitation of verse, and then to singing. In essence, therefore, a charm is a verbal utterance spoken in a sing-song fashion and is intended to have a magical effect, …