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This is obscure. I have a question about a Greek word.
What is the plural of "telesma," the basis for our English word "talisman"? Would it be similar to the plural of "charisma," which is "charismata"?
I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, and grabbed this word "telesma" to use for a set of artifacts, mostly because it sounded more mysterious than the overused "talisman" in fantasy.
Any help would be appreciated!
All dictionaries I perused listed "telesm" as the singular and did not specify the plural variant. However, a search for "telesmatic" in Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary yields the following:
Telesmatic
Tel`es*mat"ic\\, Telesmatical \\Tel`es*mat"ic*al\\, a. Of or pertaining to telesms; magical. --J. Gregory.
I saw several occurences of telesma used interchangably on the web as the singular and plural, but these were alternative religion/spiritual healing type sites and not academic sources.
Telesmatic. (n.d.). Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Retrieved November 03, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Telesmatic
For "telesm", the OED offers:
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Also telesme, -isme. Also in Gr. form telesma, pl. -mata.
But in the quotes, we find the addition of an "s" to make the plural:
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1646 J. GREGORY Notes & Obs. (1650) 33 The Claudi and the Cæci..were no other than those..Statuary Telesmes so much celebrated of old, which unless they kept the City, the watchman laboured but in vaine.
1693 W. FREKE Sel. Ess. iv. 32 Thus Telesmes, or Talismans also,{em}are a spawn of Astrology.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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