zombola
04-09-2015, 12:15 PM
\ ap-uh-truh-PEY-ik \ , adjective;
1.
Intended to ward off evil.
Quotes:
Ritualistic behaviour used as an apotropaic to ward off private demons, yes. Except to Raymond there's danger everywhere.
-- Leonore Fleischer, Rain Man
In an older kind of fairy story, the magic of the flowers would be potent but unspecified, vaguely apotropaic.
-- Anthony Burgess, J.G. Ballard, "Introduction," The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard
Origin:
Apotropaic came into common usage in the 1880s. It comes from the Greek word apotrópai meaning "averting evil."
1.
Intended to ward off evil.
Quotes:
Ritualistic behaviour used as an apotropaic to ward off private demons, yes. Except to Raymond there's danger everywhere.
-- Leonore Fleischer, Rain Man
In an older kind of fairy story, the magic of the flowers would be potent but unspecified, vaguely apotropaic.
-- Anthony Burgess, J.G. Ballard, "Introduction," The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard
Origin:
Apotropaic came into common usage in the 1880s. It comes from the Greek word apotrópai meaning "averting evil."