TALISMAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does talisman mean? 

• TALISMAN (noun)
  The noun TALISMAN has 1 sense:

1. a trinket or piece of jewelry usually hung about the neck and thought to be a magical protection against evil or disease

  Familiarity information: TALISMAN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TALISMAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A trinket or piece of jewelry usually hung about the neck and thought to be a magical protection against evil or disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

amulet; talisman

Hypernyms ("talisman" is a kind of...):

charm; good luck charm (something believed to bring good luck)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "talisman"):

greegree; gres-gris; grigri (an African amulet)

Derivation:

talismanic (possessing or believed to possess magic power especially protective power)

 Context examples 

They could not help it, for he carried the talisman that opens all hearts, and these simple people warmed to him at once, feeling even the more friendly because he was poor.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was a talisman, a magic word to conjure with.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

'Oh,' returned the fairy, 'that does not signify! Here is a talisman will remove all difficulties;' and she held out a pretty gold ring.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

After many inquiries and almost as many refusals, and perpetually using the words Pall Mall Gazette as a sort of talisman, I managed to find the keeper of the section of the Zoölogical Gardens in which the wolf department is included.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Oh, indeed! said Annie with a funny look, as Meg slipped the note into her pocket as a sort of talisman against envy, vanity, and false pride, for the few loving words had done her good, and the flowers cheered her up by their beauty.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A universal favorite, thanks to money, manners, much talent, and the kindest heart that ever got its owner into scrapes by trying to get other people out of them, he stood in great danger of being spoiled, and probably would have been, like many another promising boy, if he had not possessed a talisman against evil in the memory of the kind old man who was bound up in his success, the motherly friend who watched over him as if he were her son, and last, but not least by any means, the knowledge that four innocent girls loved, admired, and believed in him with all their hearts.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)