pentacle
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɛnt.ə.kl̩/
Forms: form: pentacles
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.
Senses: examples: text: ouer this pott and the cyrcle hold the pentacles, and perfume them; and say deuoutly theis psalmes followynge
ref: mid- to late-16th century, British Library Additional manuscript 36674, London:
text: 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
ref: 1572, The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian [British Library Sloane MS 3847], London:
text: 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
ref: 1572, The Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian [British Library Sloane MS 3847], London:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: he drew a pentacle or five-pointed star.
ref: 1949, Gerald Gardner, chapter 10, in High Magic's Aid, page 92:
text: a five-pointed star (pentacle).
ref: 1954, Gerald Gardner, chapter 12, in Witchcraft Today:
text: the figure of the pentacle, or pentagram.
ref: 1959, Gerald Gardner, chapter 8, in The Meaning of Witchcraft, page 122:
topics: Wicca
lifestyle
religion
glosses: A pentagram, or a disk with a pentagram on it, especially one that is used for magical or mystical purposes.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2002, Kevin Saunders, Wiccan Spirituality: A Magical Attitude for the 21st Century, London: Green Magic, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57:
text: A pentacle is a pentagram with a circle drawn around it.
ref: 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:
text: The pentagram becomes a pentacle when it is enclosed within a circle and inscribed on a disc or stone.
ref: 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:
topics: Wicca
lifestyle
religion
glosses: A circumscribed pentagram.
glosses: A figure formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting regularly so as to form a six-pointed star.
Synonyms: pentaculum
pentagram
pentalpha
Meronyms: pentagram
pentalpha