Faith & RitualGreek → English
Phylactery
/fɪˈlæktəri/noun
A small leather box of scripture worn in Jewish prayer, or any protective charm.
The Greek roots
φυλακτήριον
phylaktḗrion
guard post, amulet
φυλάσσειν
phylássein
to guard, protect
Literally: “a thing that keeps guard”
The story of the word
Φυλακτήριον first meant a garrison or a guard post, then anything that stands guard, including an amulet. Greek-speaking Jews applied it to the tefillin bound to arm and forehead, and Matthew 23 has Jesus criticising those who make theirs conspicuously wide. English readers who met the word only in the Gospels took it to mean a charm of any kind, and fantasy games have since given it a fourth career as a container for a sorcerer's soul.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
prophylacticphylax
In a sentence
The museum case held a phylactery with the parchment still inside.