• Talismen

    Pronunciation

    • RP enPR: tăʹlÄ­smÄ•n, IPA: /ˈtalɪsmÉ›n/

    Origin

    Plural of talisman by erroneous analogy with man → men; compare shamen.

    Noun

    plural

    1. (nonstandard) Plural of talisman
      • 1911, James H. Anderson, Riddles of Prehistoric Times‎, page 205:They had fetiches and talismen, who bring good fortune.
      • 1934, Charles W. Warner, Quacks‎, page 38:It is easy to understand how the sale or barter of talismen begun.
      • 1988, Richard McGill, Omamori‎, page 234:A talisman of the Grand Shrine of Ise was placed vertically within the shrine. There were also talismen for the guardian kami.
      • 2004, John Bassett McCleary, The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia (and Phraseicon) of the 1960s, page 149:The 1960s and ‛70s counterculture borrowed many fetishes and talismen from other cultures to adorn themselves and their surroundings.
      • 2004, James Fairhead, Melissa Leach, Mary Small, Childhood vaccination and society in the Gambia, page 20:Many parents also place a variety of talismen or safe (“jujus”) on their babies.
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