pentacle

noun

Etymology: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentacle, from Old French pentacol (“pendant”), from pent (“hangs”), a (“from”), and col (“neck”), thus "hangs from neck". Likely reanalyzed in medieval times as coming from penta- (“five”) and -culum (object forming suffix), as evidenced by the Latinized form pentaculum and the narrowing of the modern sense to a five-pointed design, especially a pentagram.

1. A flat talisman, almost always star-shaped, made of parchment, sheet metal, or other substance, marked with a magic symbol or symbols, used in magical evocation.

   “ouer this pott and the cyrcle hold the pentacles, and perfume them; and say deuoutly theis psalmes followynge”

   “of the same pentacles be certayne exorcizmes and names ineffable and carecters and signes of all the science, therefore, in them the whole science of all this art lyeth hydd”

2. A pentagram, especially one that is used for magical or mystical purposes.

   “he drew a pentacle or five-pointed star.”

   “a five-pointed star (pentacle).”

3. A circumscribed pentagram.

   “The pentacle—a pentagram enclosed within a surrounding circle—as found as the centre-piece on a witch's altar is often worn as a silver pendant by witches and other neo-pagans alike repesenting their beliefs in the interconnectedness and interdependence of the powers of nature and spirit.”

   “A pentacle is a pentagram with a circle drawn around it.”