06 March 2022

The plural of "talisman" is "talismans"


I've always known what a talisman is, but I'd never thought about the plural until I encountered it in today's Los Angeles Times Sunday crossword, where a 9-letter answer was required.

Had to look up the etymology, which obviously is not related to "man/men" -
From French talisman, partly from Arabic طِلَّسْم‎ (ṭillasm), 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”). Doublet of telesm.
Embedded photo from a NYT article on the comfort of wearing talismans in stressful times.  Related: words ending in -man.

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