The dictionary say they have different origins, but is there a common root?

Jany

First praytell what does the official etymology reveal anyway?

For the word gift it is:

Etymology: ME < OE, portion, wedding gift (< giefan: see give) & ON gift, gift (< gefa, akin to give), akin to Ger gift, poison

For the word charisma it is:

Etymology: Gr(Ec), gift of God’s grace < Gr, favor, grace < charizesthai, to show favor to < charis, grace, beauty, kindness < chairein, to rejoice at < IE base *ĝher-, to desire, like > yearn

Alright, now you found the true PIE root for Hellenic loanword charisma that’s excellent!  But since tendered substantive “gift” appears to be a clear secondary formation of English verb “give” simply find its original PIE root much as you did the former—then look & compare for your final, definitive answer!

Sr. Member,

I am not sure I understand what you are saying! PIE root? Secondary formation?

I just copied the etymology from the yourdictionary word search.

I am interested to know what you mean. Is there a ‘how to’ on the site?

Janio

YourDictionary.com word search will consistently display the same PIE root as my Bartleby.com results.  There really is no proven convoluted method other than to look up the exact word entry and just follow up afterwards until you get a straight answer—all very professional!  But it always helps to remember that ancestral construct proto-Indo-European remains purely hypothetical theory much as “Darwinian evolution” today, albeit with gobs more lexical fanfare!

Dear JanY, rest assured that all the non-proven convoluted methods are vested in Bandito.  The straight answer is there, somewhere, and the answers that have been offered will probably lead you to it.

Without delving into the etymology, I would say that a gift can be either a physical object (a present), or a quality (a beneficial manifestation of personality not commonly encountered).  Charisma is always an intrinsic quality, and cannot be given away, only appreciated as something unattainable to the common run of folk.

Thank you, bandito and douglang. The origins of words is something I am very interested in, but I may need to pursue more in depth study of it at another time. I am very grateful for sites like yourdictionary.com.

Janio