It's the Word of the Day for May 18th.
Today's word is talisman, also pronounced talisman and spelled T-A-L-I-S-M-A-N.
Talisman is a noun.
A talisman is an object such as a ring or stone that is believed to have magic powers and to cause good things to happen to the person who has it.
Here's the word used in a sentence from The New Yorker by Joyce Carol Oates.
Brianna takes a picture of the shell on the beach,
then holds it in her hand, staring as if at a talisman.
Whether your personal lucky charm takes the form of a pink heart,
yellow moon, orange star, green clover,
or something else, the English language has got you covered,
offering a bowl full of synonyms for magical objects.
There's mojo and amulet, periapt and phylactery, to name just a few.
Talisman is another.
And the mystery of its origins reflects the ubiquity of magical charms across cultures,
languages, and time.
The English language may have borrowed talisman from French, Spanish, or Italian.
All three include similar-looking words that in turn come from the Arabic word for charm, tilsam.
Tilsam traces back to the ancient Greek verb telain,
which means to initiate into the mysteries or secret religious rites.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.