I thought the word ‘fascinating’ was related to the word ‘facet’, as in the facets of a diamond. You turn the diamond around, the light reflecting and sparking from the facets is fascinating.
Every time I wrote fascinating, I pictured those gleaming surfaces. It felt natural—staring into an abyss of facets, lost in fascination.
While fascinating and facet share a similar sound, they come from different roots.
- Fascinating comes from the Latin fascinare, meaning “to bewitch” or “cast a spell on.” Over time, it evolved to mean something that captures intense interest or holds someone’s attention.
- Facet comes from the French facette, meaning “little face,” which itself is derived from the Latin facies (“face” or “appearance”). It refers to the flat surfaces on a cut gem or different aspects of something.
So casting a spell on someone is to fascinate? That seems odd. I fascinate you!
Etymonline’s entry for ‘fascinate’ explains:
The word was earliest used of witches and of serpents who were said to be able to cast a spell by a look that rendered one unable to move or resist. The sense of “delight, attract and hold the attention of” is recorded by 1815.
Oh, so a spell is cast on someone. That person cannot move. So then that person is constantly looking at something. The person’s attention is forced to be on one thing. So fascination wasn’t just about attraction—it was about being spellbound, literally unable to look away.
Boy, I like the idea more of fascinating coming from facets.