pentacle

English

The "first pentacle of the moon": The only one of the 44 pentacles in The Key of Solomon that is not disk-shaped.

A modern Wiccan pentacle pendant (definition #3)

Etymology

PIE word
*pénkʷe

From Middle French pentacle, from Old French pentacol (“pendant”), from pent (“hangs”), a (“from”), and col (“neck”), thus "hangs from neck". Likely reanalyzed in medieval times as coming from penta- (“five”) and -culum (object forming suffix), as evidenced by the Latinized form pentaculum and the narrowing of the modern sense to a five-pointed design, especially a pentagram.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pen‧ta‧cle
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛnt.ə.kl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

pentacle (plural pentacles)

1. A flat talisman, almost always star-shaped, made of parchment, sheet metal, or other substance, marked with a magic symbol or symbols, used in magical evocation.
   • mid- to late-16th century, British Library Additional manuscript 36674‎^[1], London:

     ouer this pott and the cyrcle hold the pentacles, and perfume them; and say deuoutly theis psalmes followynge

   • 1572, The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian [British Library Sloane MS 3847]‎^[2], London:

     of the same pentacles be certayne exorcizmes and names ineffable and carecters and signes of all the science, therefore, in them the whole science of all this art lyeth hydd

   • 1572, The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian [British Library Sloane MS 3847]‎^[3], London:

     if ye constraine any spirit to come before you and when ye haue shewed him ye secret pentacles, there is none dare say against your minde

2. (Wicca) A pentagram, or a disk with a pentagram on it, especially one that is used for magical or mystical purposes.
   • 1949, Gerald Gardner, chapter 10, in High Magic's Aid, page 92:

     he drew a pentacle or five-pointed star.

   • 1954, Gerald Gardner, chapter 12, in Witchcraft Today:

     a five-pointed star (pentacle).

   • 1959, Gerald Gardner, chapter 8, in The Meaning of Witchcraft, page 122:

     the figure of the pentacle, or pentagram.

3. (Wicca) A circumscribed pentagram.
   • 2002, Kevin Saunders, Wiccan Spirituality: A Magical Attitude for the 21st Century, London: Green Magic, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57:

     The pentacle—a pentagram enclosed within a surrounding circle—as found as the centre-piece on a witch's altar is often worn as a silver pendant by witches and other neo-pagans alike repesenting their beliefs in the interconnectedness and interdependence of the powers of nature and spirit.

   • 2006, Denise Zimmermann with Gleason, Katherine and Liguana, Maria, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, Indianapolis: Alpha, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, LCC BF1566.Z55 2006, page 146:

     A pentacle is a pentagram with a circle drawn around it.

   • 2007 March 1, Ruth Barr, chapter 5, in Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, 2nd edition, Woodbury: Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, LCC BL625.7.B39 2007, page 93:

     The pentagram becomes a pentacle when it is enclosed within a circle and inscribed on a disc or stone.

4. A figure formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting regularly so as to form a six-pointed star. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

Synonyms

• pentaculum
• pentagram, pentalpha

Antonyms

• inverted pentagram

Meronyms

• pentagram, pentalpha

Translations

pentagram

• Esperanto: pentagramo
• French: pentacle (fr)

circumscribed pentagram

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: pentacle (fr) m
• Italian: pentacolo (it) m
• Latin: pentaculum
• Spanish: pentáculo m

See also

• pentacle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛ̃.takl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pentacle m (plural pentacles)

1. pentacle

Further reading

• “pentacle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

The magician's Pentacle as depicted in a 1547 French edition of the grimoire Heptameron, spuriously attributed to Peter de Abano.

Etymology

Attested at least as early as 1547, from Old French pentacol.

Noun

pentacle m (plural pentacles)

1. pentacle (a talisman of parchment, sheet metal, or other substance, marked with a magic symbol or symbols, used in magical evocation)
   • 1547, Les Œuvres Magiques de Henri-Corneille Agrippa, Par Pierre d'Aban, Latin et Français, Avec des Secrets occultes‎^[4], "Heptameron" p. 13:

     Il faut de plus, avoir les parfums propres au jour que l'on fait l'opération; il faut auſſi a voir de l'eau benite par un Prêtre, un vaſe de terre neuf, plein de feu, l'Habit & le Pentacle, comme nous l'avons dit

     It is also required, to have the incenses proper to the days that one did the operation; it is also necessary to see the water blessed by a Priest, a new earthen vessel, full of fire, the Garment and the Pentacle, as we have said

   • 1547, Les Œuvres Magiques de Henri-Corneille Agrippa, Par Pierre d'Aban, Latin et Français, Avec des Secrets occultes‎^[5], "Heptameron" p. 14:

     Le Maître qui ſe ſera diſpoſé à la cérémonie par trois jours de jeûne & d'abſtinence & de toutes ſouillures, revêtu de ſes Habits blancs, avec le Pentacle, les Parfums & autres choſes néceſſaires entrera dans le Cercle

     The Master who will be prepared for the ceremony by three days of fasting and abstinence and [cleansed] of all dirt, dressed in his white Garments, with the Pentacle, the Perfumes and other necessary things shall enter the Circle