CHARISMA

PRONUNCIATION: (kuh-RIZ-muh)
plural charismata (kuh-RIZ-muh-tuh)*

MEANING: noun: A personal charm or appeal that inspires devotion, loyalty, enthusiasm, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin, from Greek kharisma, from kharis (favor, grace). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gher- (to like or want), which also gave us chrestomathy, hortatory, hortative, yearn, greedy, and exhort. Earliest documented use: 1641.
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*(I didn't think there was a plural!)
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CHERI'S MA - the mother of my dear French friend
(also, of course, "CHER IS MA - My mother was married to Sony Bono in the 1960s")

CHARISM - a fanatical insistence on ultra-well-toasted marshmallows

CHARISMAS - a poorly-articulated holiday that occurs near the winter solstice