talismán

Forms

talismán m (plural talismanes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French talisman, a learned word that came into Spanish from the European languages, not an old Arabism.^[2][3][1] The ultimate source is Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “payment; religious rite”), from τελέω (teléō, “to complete, perform”), and the form passed through Arabic or Persian on its way to French.^[3][2][4][1]

The sources disagree about that step.^[3][2][5] Wiktionary and the DHLF take the French word from Arabic طلسم (ṭilsam), and the DHLF explains the ⟨-n⟩ of the Romance forms by an Arabic dual;^[5][1][6][7] Gómez de Silva and Bénaben derive it from an Arabic plural.^[5][1][6][7] Corominas rejects these, since the usual Arabic plural has another shape and a plural in ⟨-ān⟩ is impossible in an Arabic word of this kind, and derives it from Persian, from the Persian plural in ⟨-āt⟩ of the word for talisman; the Academy follows him.^[3][2] He explains the ⟨-n⟩ by confusion with a homonym meaning “Muslim priest”, a Turkish alteration of a Persian word for “scholar”.^[3]

In Greek the word meant “payment”;^[4] Clement of Alexandria used it for a religious rite, and later writers for statuettes with magic powers.^[3][4] Spanish already had the popular word nómina and the learned amuleto for the thing.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the CDH is in Feijoo's Theatro crítico universal (1728), where superstition produced los amuletos y talismanes, o figuras de los astros y signos celestes, estampadas en metal o piedra “amulets and talismans, or figures of the stars and signs of the zodiac stamped on metal or stone”.^[8] Corominas's first record is the 1739 volume of Autoridades, which defines it as a figure engraved on metal under the influence of the signs of the zodiac, used by magicians.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

In French the word appears in 1637 and in English in 1638, both taken directly from the East.^[3] The Academy kept the astrological definition of Autoridades until the 20th century, and in 1899 still derived the word from Greek.^[10] Moliner distinguishes the figure linked with the zodiac from any object believed to have magic powers.^[11] The figurative sense, a person or thing that brings good luck, is now common, often in apposition without agreement: el jugador talismán, los colores talismán.^[2][12] Figurative use is recorded in the Americas from the early 19th century.^[8][13]

Timeline

• 1637 – French talisman is recorded.^[3]
• 1728 – Feijoo uses talismanes beside amuletos.^[8]
• 1739 – Autoridades records the word.^[9][3]
• 1780 – Clavijero uses it of Aztec carved figures.^[8]
• 1812 – Servando Teresa de Mier uses it figuratively, of self-interest.^[8]
• 1866 – the first records in Boyd-Bowman's lexicon, from Bogotá.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from Greek.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A talisman: an object, sometimes with a figure or inscription, believed to have magic powers.^[2][1]
2. A person or thing thought to bring good luck; often in apposition: Aquel gol convirtió al delantero en el hombre talismán de la afición.^[2][12]

Related words

• amuleto
• French talisman
• Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. talismán
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 388
4. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 670
7. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. talismán
8. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. talismán
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 942
11. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. talismán
12. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. talismán
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. talismán