Definition of "magnetism" []

• The class of phenomena exhibited by a magnetic field. (noun)
• The study of magnets and their effects. (noun)
• The force exerted by a magnetic field. (noun)
• Unusual power to attract, fascinate, or influence: the magnetism of money. (noun)
• Animal magnetism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Had he been a lexicographer he would have found the term magnetism far more inclusive."
• "That is but _one_ phenomenon of magnetism, to which we have appropriated and confined the term magnetism; because of all the natural bodies at present known, iron, and one or two of its nearest relatives in the family of hard yet coherent metals, are the only ones, in which all the conditions are collected, under which alone the magnetic agency can appear in and during the act itself."
• "No man of his time could hold a candle to Mr. Blaine in what we call magnetism - that is, in manly charm, supported by facility and brain power."