pentacle
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pentacle
First recorded in 1585–95, pentacle is from the Italian word pentacolo five-cornered object. See penta-, -cle 1
Explanation
A five-pointed star can be called a pentacle. Some pagan religions consider the pentacle to be a deeply spiritual symbol. The pentacle — which is also called a pentagram — has been thought of as having protective or powerful magical properties for hundreds of years. The fact that a pentacle can be drawn with one continuous line is sometimes seen as meaningful or mystical. Pentacles are often used as one of the four suits in a tarot deck of fortune-telling cards (although sometimes they're called "coins"). The Greek root of pentacle is pente, "five."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As part of “Suspending Time,” a dance series presented with the arts organization Pentacle, the choreographer Zvi Gotheiner offers “Stairway,” a 20-minute site-specific work taking place along the museum’s spiral staircase.
From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2018
Since 2009, he has documented his passion for the creek — in oddly beautiful photography and beautifully odd prose — on his blog, The Newtown Pentacle.
From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2012
The yearly retainer required by a firm like Pentacle, she added, was simply unrealistic for choreographers like herself, who have unpredictable finances and no set company structure, and work project to project.
From New York Times • Dec. 31, 2010
I completed the barriers in about an hour, and you can imagine something of the relief I felt when I felt the pale glare of the Electric Pentacle once more all about me.
From Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by Hodgson, William Hope
But nothing was ever disturbed, and I began to think that I should have to risk an attempt to stay the night in the room, in the Electric Pentacle.
From Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by Hodgson, William Hope
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
