pentacle
/ˈpɛnt.ə.kl̩/
"pentacle" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pentacle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A flat talisman, almost always star-shaped, made of parchment, sheet metal, or other substance, marked with a magic symbol or symbols, used in magical evocation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pentacle · pentacle · English
pentacle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pentacle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɛnt.ə.kl̩/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pentacle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pentacle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɛnt.ə.kl̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
pentacle has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentacle, from Old French pentacol (“pendant”), from pent (“hangs”), a (“from”), and col (“neck”), thus "hangs from neck". Likely reanalyzed in medieval times as coming from penta- (“five”) and -culum (object forming suf… The correct English form is pentacle, spelled P-E-N-T-A-C-L-E.
Definition
- 1A flat talisman, almost always star-shaped, made of parchment, sheet metal, or other substance, marked with a magic symbol or symbols, used in magical evocation.
- 2A pentagram, or a disk with a pentagram on it, especially one that is used for magical or mystical purposes.
- 3A circumscribed pentagram.
- 4A figure formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting regularly so as to form a six-pointed star.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pentacle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
ouer this pott and the cyrcle hold the pentacles, and perfume them; and say deuoutly theis psalmes followynge
of the same pentacles be certayne exorcizmes and names ineffable and carecters and signes of all the science, therefore, in them the whole science of all this art lyeth hydd
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle French pentacle, from Old French pentacol (“pendant”), from pent (“hangs”), a (“from”), and col (“neck”), thus "hangs from neck". Likely reanalyzed in medieval times as coming from penta- (“five”) and -culum (object forming suffix), as evidenced by the Latinized form pentaculum and the narrowing of the modern sense to a five-pointed design, especially a pentagram.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.