talisman
pronunciation
How to pronounce talisman in British English:
UK [ˈtælɪzmən]
How to pronounce talisman in American English:
US [ˈtælɪsmən, -ɪz-]
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- Noun:
- a trinket or piece of jewelry thought to be a protection against evil
Word Origin
- talisman
- talisman: [17] Talisman, one of the very few English nouns ending in -man which does not turn into -men in the plural (dragoman is another), denotes etymologically an ‘object consecrated by the completion of a religious ritual’. It comes via French talisman from medieval Greek télesmon, an alteration of late Greek télesma ‘consecrated object’. This in turn was derived from the verb teleín ‘complete’, hence ‘perform a ritual’, hence ‘consecrate’, which was based on télos ‘aim, result’ (source of English teleology [18]).=> teleology, television
- talisman (n.)
- 1630s, "magical figure cut or engraved under certain observances," from French talisman, in part via Arabic tilsam (plural tilsaman), from Byzantine Greek telesma "talisman, religious rite, payment," earlier "consecration, ceremony," originally in ancient Greek "completion," from telein "perform (religious rites), pay (tax), fulfill," from telos "end, fulfillment, completion" (see tele-). The Arabic word also was borrowed into Turkish, Persian, Hindi. Related: Talismanic; talismanical.
Example
- 1. I was touched but it was his talisman to cherish .
- 2. And then use any genuinelypositive commentary you get as a talisman .
- 3. I wanted to give them some small token , a talisman , to wish them well .
- 4. For doomsayers , gold has become a particularly potent talisman : a bulwark against the coming apocalypse .
- 5. " My friends tell me I 'm quite handsome , " he said in confident english one recent evening , fingering his car keys as if they were a talisman .