Charms, amulets, and talismans

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A charm, amulet, or talisman is a small object which is believed to have the magical power of protecting its owner from evil or misfortune or of bringing him or her good fortune. However, although the words charm, amulet, or talisman have overlapping uses, they are not exact synonyms.


  • The most general, and most widely used, of these words is charm, which may be used of any small object believed to have a magical power of protecting its owner from misfortune or bringing him or her good fortune. However, the word charm has a number of other uses: it may mean:
    • the capacity to please greatly, attract, or excite the interest of others, as in ‘The source of his charm is his childlike optimism and unfailingly cheerful disposition’ or ‘With advancing years he began to lose his charm’.
    • the source of the above capacity, i.e., a personal quality which pleases greatly, attracts, or excites the interest of others, as in ‘Her great charm was her unassuming modesty’.
    • any small object worn (usually on a bracelet or necklace) simply for adornment and not because it is believed to have any magical properties, as in ‘Jane has just bought another charm for her bracelet’. (A charm bracelet is a bracelet to which such charms are meant to be attached.}
    • a magical spell or the formula used in such a spell, as in ‘Do you know a charm for driving away a swarm of bees?’
    • Charm is also used as a verb meaning ‘to please greatly, attract, or excite interest’, as in ‘The speaker charmed the audience with his radiant smile and witty anecdotes’ or ‘Orpheus charmed the inhabitants of the Underworld with his lyre-playing’.
Etymological note: The word charm comes, through Old French charme, from the Latin carmen, song, from the verb canere, to sing.


  • The nouns amulet and talisman are more restricted in their use than charm. While both words denote a small object believed to have magical properties and for that reason worn by its owner, or carried on his or her person, it is said that
    • an amulet protects against evil or misfortune, while a talisman brings benefit or good fortune – though, admittedly, it is not always easy to draw this distinction;
    • an amulet possesses its magical properties naturally, while a talisman acquires these properties, e.g., through the use of an appropriate spell.
      • While these rules are not strictly followed, AWE’s advice is: do not use either amulet or talisman as a substitute for charm without a clear justification for doing so.
Etymological notes: Amulet comes from the Latin amuletum, (amulet), a word first found in the Natural History of the Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE). The origins of the word are otherwise unknown.
Talisman comes from the Arabic tilasm or tilsam (talisman, charm, enigma, mystery), an Arabised form of the Greek telesmos (a consecration ceremony), a noun from the verb telein (to fulfil, accomplish, execute, perform; to initiate (into the mysteries)).
See also Charisma and Apotropaic.