pentagram
pentagram Lexical Profile
pentagram Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A five-pointed star-shaped figure drawn using five straight, intersecting lines of equal length, historically and culturally used as a mystical, religious, or occult symbol.
"The geometry textbook demonstrated how the interior intersections of a regular pentagram naturally form a smaller regular pentagon at its center."
Word Nuance & Usage
While often used interchangeably with 'pentacle', a pentagram specifically refers to the five-pointed star figure itself, whereas a pentacle traditionally denotes a pentagram enclosed within a circle or inscribed on a disk.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-19th century from Ancient Greek 'pentagrammon', a noun use of the neuter adjective 'pentagrammos' meaning 'of five lines', from 'pente' (five) and 'gramme' (line). The symbol was historically used by the followers of Pythagoras in antiquity as a badge of recognition and an emblem of health.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.