Hÿp'no-tĭsm, n.

n. [Fr. hypnotisme, from Gr. ὕπνος, sleep.] Sleep, especially a kind of sleep or somnambulism said to be produced by means of animal magnetism; also a similar condition produced in persons of very delicate organization, by gazing at a very bright object, as a metallic ball highly polished and strongly illuminated.