Origins of the Term Hypnotism Prior to Braid

Abstract

Although James Braid, a Scottish physician, is generally credited with originating in 1843 the term “hypnotism,” later to become known as hypnosis in the 1880s, it was actually a Frenchman, Etienne Felix d'Henin de Cuvillers, who in an 1821 publication first applied the “hypn-” prefix to a wide array of words descriptive of the mesmeric process. Likewise, the trance induction technique of optical fixation, frequently called the Braid Effect, was known centuries prior to Braid.