Related Searches
on Ask.com
Definition of pentacle - 5 dictionary results
pen⋅ta⋅cle
[pen-tuh-kuh
l] 
pen⋅ta⋅gram
[pen-tuh-gram] –noun
| a five-pointed, star-shaped figure made by extending the sides of a regular pentagon until they meet, used as an occult symbol by the Pythagoreans and later philosophers, by magicians, etc. |
Also called pentacle, pentangle, pentalpha.
Related forms:
pen⋅ta⋅gram⋅mat⋅ic [pen-tuh-gruh-mat-ik] , adjective
[pen-tuh-gruh-mat-ik] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To pentacle
| pen·ta·cle (pěn'tə-kəl) n. A five-pointed star, often held to have magical or mystical significance, formed by five straight lines connecting the vertices of a pentagon and enclosing another pentagon in the completed figure. Also called pentagram. [Medieval Latin *pentāculum : Greek penta-, penta- + Latin -culum, diminutive suff.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Pentacle
Pen"ta*cle\, n. [Gr. ? five.] A figure composed of two equilateral triangles intersecting so as to form a six-pointed star, -- used in early ornamental art, and also with superstitious import by the astrologers and mystics of the Middle Ages.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
pentacle
1594, from M.L. pentaculum, a hybrid coined from Gk. pente "five" + L. -culum, dim. suffix. But the exact origin is obscure. It. had pentacolo "anything with five points," and Fr. pentacle (16c.) was the name of something used in necromancy, perhaps a five-branched candlestick. Fr. pentacol "amulet worn around the neck" (14c.), however, is from pend- "to hang" + a "to" + col "neck." The same figure as a pentagram (q.v.), except in magical usage, where is has been extended to other symbols of power, including a six-point star.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
