apotropaic
English
editEtymology
editFrom Ancient Greek ἀποτρόπαιος (apotrópaios), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) and τρόπος (trópos, “turn”); thus meaning “causing things to turn away”, as in “turns away evil”.
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˌæpətɹəˈpeɪ.ɪk/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
editapotropaic (comparative more apotropaic, superlative most apotropaic)
- (religion, mysticism) Intended to ward off evil. [from 1883]
- 2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in New York Times[1]:
- A boring subtext, about the wisdom or otherwise of actually uttering Voldemort's name, meanwhile robs the apotropaic device of its force.
- 2010, Mary Beard, chapter 7, in Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town:
- In earlier generations scholars reacted by removing many of these objects from public view, putting them in the ‘Secret Cabinet’ of the museum at Naples or otherwise under wraps. […] More recently the fashion has been to deflect attention from their sexuality by referring to them as ‘magical’, ‘apotropaic’ or ‘averters of the evil eye’.
- 2015, Matthew Champion, Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England’s Churches, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 25:
- Commonly known as ‘ritual protection marks’, or even ‘witch marks’, an apotropaic image or symbol is a marking that is thought to create a ‘protection’ for the individual that created it – or for the area or object into which it was inscribed.
Derived terms
editDerived terms
Translations
editintended to ward off evil
|
Noun
editapotropaic (plural apotropaics)
- An agent intended to ward off evil.
Romanian
editEtymology
editBorrowed from French apotropaïque.
Adjective
editapotropaic m or n (feminine singular apotropaică, masculine plural apotropaici, feminine and neuter plural apotropaice)
Declension
editDeclension of apotropaic
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | apotropaic | apotropaică | apotropaici | apotropaice | ||
definite | apotropaicul | apotropaica | apotropaicii | apotropaicele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | apotropaic | apotropaice | apotropaici | apotropaice | ||
definite | apotropaicului | apotropaicei | apotropaicilor | apotropaicelor |
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