A talisman is an object which is believed to contain certain magical or sacramental properties which would provide good luck for the possessor or possibly offer protection from evil or harm.
a talisman is "a magical figure charged with the force which it is intended to represent. In the construction of a talisman, care should be taken to make it, as far as possible, so to represent the universal forces that it should be in exact harmony with those you wish to attract, and the more exact the symbolism, the easier it is to attract the force." 所引用的解釋中又缺少了-bebuff的觀點，真是令人汗顏。
在維基百科給出的解釋：
An amulet is an object whose most important characteristic is the power ascribed to it to protect its owner from danger or harm. Amulets are different from talismans as a talisman is believed to bring luck or some other benefit, though it can offer protection as well. Amulets are often confused with pendants—charms that hang from necklaces—any given pendant may indeed be an amulet, but so may any other charm which purports to protect its owner from danger.
儘管許多人認為Amulet是其他阿拉伯語中來，但實際上找不到確切證據，牛津詞典也否認了這點。實際上這個詞是是個地道的拉丁語來的。拉丁語amuletum定義就是消除疾病、詛咒，amu （避開、挪走）+ let （小物品）→避邪的小物，更早的拉丁語則來自amoliri指祛除、挪走、避開。該詞形成早於Talisman，大約是在15世紀中葉英語里就曾出現過amalettys，但隨後消失了一段時間，卻被法語采用，直到1600年隨著英法關系才逐漸被英國廣泛應用。
