FromAncient Greekἀποτρόπαιος(apotrópaios), fromἀπό(apó,“away”) andτρόπος(trópos,“turn”); thus meaning “causing things to turn away”, as in “turns away evil”.
apotropaic (comparativemoreapotropaic,superlativemostapotropaic)
- (religion, mysticism) Intended toward offevil.[from 1883]
1961, Harry E. Wedeck,Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 1:Wormwood [...] was associated with the rites of St. John's Eve, when a crown of the plant was made from its sprays forapotropaic purposes, to ward of malefic spirits.
2007 August 12,Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, inNew York Times[1]:A boring subtext, about the wisdom or otherwise of actually uttering Voldemort's name, meanwhile robs theapotropaic device of its force.
2010,Mary Beard, chapter 7, inPompeii: 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, page25:Commonly known as ‘ritual protection marks’, or even ‘witch marks’, anapotropaic 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.
intended to ward off evil
apotropaic (pluralapotropaics)
- An agent intended to ward off evil.
Borrowed fromFrenchapotropaïque.
apotropaic m orn (feminine singularapotropaică,masculine pluralapotropaici,feminine/neuter pluralapotropaice)
- apotropaic
