talisman

See also: Talisman and talismán

English

WOTD – 25 February 2007

Etymology

From French talisman, partly from Arabic طِلَسْم (ṭilasm), from Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “payment”); and partly directly from Byzantine Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “talisman, religious rite, completion”), from τελέω (teléō, “to perform religious rites, to complete”), from τέλος (télos, “end, fulfillment, accomplishment, consummation, completion”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæl.ɪsˌmæn/, /ˈtæl.ɪz.mən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

talisman (plural talismans)

1. A magical object providing protection against ill will, or the supernatural, or conferring the wearer with a boon such as good luck, good health, or power(s).
   • 1997, John Peel, chapter 10, in War of the Daleks, page 233:

     She kept low, clutching the rifle she'd taken as though it were a magic talisman, as if it would somehow protect her even though she didn't fire it.

   • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 17, in Crime out of Mind‎^[1]:

     Dagobert gave him back his passport. He re-pocketed it indifferently; a talisman which had lost its potency.

   • 1916, Frank Baum, chapter 1, in Rinkitink in Oz:

     I have in my possession three Magic Talismans, which I have ever guarded with utmost care, keeping the knowledge of their existence from anyone else.

   • 2018 January 1, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in the Guardian‎^[2]:

     Mata would soon whip in the cross that allowed Drogba to equalise – and Chelsea went on to win the Champions League, beating the German club on penalties, with their talisman from the Ivory Coast making history with the final spot-kick.

Derived terms

• talismen (non-standard plural)

See also

• amulet
• medallion
• rosary

Translations

magical protective charms

• Arabic: طِلَسْم m (ṭilasm)

  Egyptian Arabic: طلسم m (ṭilsim)

• Armenian: թալիսման (hy) (tʻalisman)
• Belarusian: талісма́н (talismán)
• Bulgarian: талисма́н (bg) m (talismán)
• Catalan: talismà m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 護身符／护身符 (zh) (hùshēnfú), 护身符 (zh) (hùshēnfú), 護符／护符 (zh) (hùfú), 护符 (zh) (hùfú)

• Czech: talisman (cs) m, amulet (cs) m
• Danish: talisman c
• Dutch: talisman (nl)
• Esperanto: talismano
• Estonian: talisman (et)
• Finnish: talismaani (fi)
• French: talisman (fr) m
• Galician: talismán m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Talisman (de) m
• Greek: φυλαχτό (el) n (fylachtó)

  Ancient: περίαπτον n (períapton), βασκάνιον n (baskánion)

• Hiligaynon: antíng-ánting
• Hungarian: kabala (hu), talizmán (hu)
• Indonesian: isim (id), jimat (id)
• Italian: talismano (it) m
• Japanese: 護符 (ごふ, gofu), タリスマン (tarisuman)
• Kabuverdianu: fisga
• Khmer: កំណារ (km) (kɑmnaa)
• Korean: 부적 (ko) (bujeok), 탤리즈먼 (taellijeumeon)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: talismans m
• Lithuanian: talismanas m
• Macedonian: талисман m (talisman), амајлија f (amajlija)
• Malay: azimat
• Maori: aria, mauri, koropā, māwe
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: talisman (no) m
• Persian: طلسم (fa) (telesm)
• Polish: talizman (pl) m
• Portuguese: talismã (pt) m, amuleto (pt) m
• Romanian: talisman (ro), amuletă (ro)
• Romansch: amulet m
• Russian: талисма́н (ru) m (talismán)
• Sanskrit: मङ्गल (sa) n (maṅgala)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: талисман m

  Roman: talisman (sh) m

• Spanish: talismán (es) m
• Swahili: talasimu
• Tagalog: agimat (tl)
• Tajik: тилисм (tilism)
• Thai: ของดี, เครื่องราง (th) (krʉ̂ʉang-raang), ของขลัง (th) (kɔ̌ɔng-klǎng)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: tılsım (tr), muska (tr)
• Ukrainian: талісма́н m (talismán)
• Uzbek: tumor (uz)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Gallery

• 
  An amulet from the Black Pullet grimoire.
• 
  Ancient Egyptian ibis-headed Thoth amulet, New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, c. 1539-1292 BC.
• 
  Drawing of clay amulet unearthed near Tartaria, Romania.
• 
  An omamori, or o-mamori (お守り), a Japanese amulet
• 
  A crucifix, considered in Christian tradition as a defense against demons.
• 
  A Nasrani (Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala) gold Thaali, also known as minnu or mangalasutra elsewhere in India, sign of conjugal union worn around neck of the bride

Anagrams

• natalism, staminal

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Danish

Etymology

From Arabic طِلَسْم (ṭilasm), from Greek τέλεσμα (télesma).

Noun

talisman c (singular definite talismanen, plural indefinite talismaner)

1. talisman

Inflection

Declension of talisman

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	talisman	talismanen	talismaner	talismanerne
genitive	talismans	talismanens	talismaners	talismanernes

See also

• amulet
• fetich

References

• “talisman” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French talisman, from Arabic طِلَسْم‎ (ṭilasm), from Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma).

• 1644, Johan de Brune, de Jonge, Wetsteen der vernuften, publ. by Iacob Lescaille, page 46.

  […] d'Arabiers geven 'er de naam van Talisman aan; gelijk Scaliger in zijn Fransche brieven getuigt.

  […] the Arabs give to it the name of Talisman; like Scaliger attests in his French letters.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaː.lɪsˌmɑn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ta‧lis‧man

Noun

talisman m (plural talismans or talismannen, diminutive talismannetje n)

1. talisman, amulet [from 17th c.]

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French

Noun

talisman m (plural talismans)

1. talisman

   Synonym: amulette

Hyponyms

• grigri

Descendants

• → Catalan: talismà
• → English: talisman
• → Galician: talismán
• → Portuguese: talismã
• → Spanish: talismán

Further reading

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

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From French talisman or Spanish talismán.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /talǐsmaːn/
• Hyphenation: ta‧lis‧man

Noun

talìsmān m (Cyrillic spelling талѝсма̄н)

1. talisman

Declension

Declension of talisman

	singular	plural
nominative	talìsmān	talismani
genitive	talismána	talismana
dative	talismanu	talismanima
accusative	talisman	talismane
vocative	talismane	talismani
locative	talismanu	talismanima
instrumental	talismanom	talismanima

References

• “talisman” in Hrvatski jezični portal