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charm [charm 词源字典]: charm: [13] Although now largely weakened to mere ‘attractiveness’, the origins of charm are in magic spells and incantations. It comes via Old French charme from Latin carmen ‘song’, which was also used for the chanting or reciting of verses with supposedly magic powers. Thus in the Middle Ages, charms were synonymous with enchantment – either spoken or, in more concrete form, carried as talismans. The latter have degenerated in modern times to small trinkets worn on bracelets, an application first recorded in the mid 19th century.
[charm etymology, charm origin, 英语词源]
elf: elf: [OE] In Germanic legend, elves were potent supernatural beings, capable of exercising considerable magic powers to the benefit or harm of human beings. Their decline to their modern status as small mischievous sprites seems to have begun in the 16th century. The word comes from a prehistoric Germanic *albiz, a variant of which produced Old Norse álfr (source of English oaf [17]) and German alp ‘nightmare’.
=> oaf
wand: wand: [12] A wand is etymologically a ‘bendable’ stick. The word was borrowed from Old Norse vöndr ‘thin straight stick’. This in turn went back to a prehistoric Germanic *wanduz, which was derived from *wand-, *wend- ‘turn’ (source also of English wander, went, etc). A stick that can be ‘turned’ is one that can be ‘bent’, hence a ‘flexible stick’. The earliest record of the word’s use for a ‘stick with magic powers’ comes from the 15th century.
=> wander, went
enchantment (n.): c. 1300, "act of magic or witchcraft; use of magic; magic power," from Old French encantement "magical spell; song, concert, chorus," from enchanter "bewitch, charm," from Latin incantare "enchant, cast a (magic) spell upon," from in- "upon, into" (see in- (2)) + cantare "to sing" (see chant (v.)). Figurative sense of "allurement" is from 1670s. Compare Old English galdor "song," also "spell, enchantment," from galan "to sing," which also is the source of the second element in nightingale.