talisman

talisman · noun, verb¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromτέλεσμα“payment”
2. Arabic · derived fromطِلَّسْم“payment”
3. French · borrowed fromtalisman
4. English todaytalisman

From French talisman, partly from Arabic طِلَّسْم (ṭillasm, “payment”), from Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “payment”); and partly directly from Medieval Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “talisman, religious rite, completion”), from τελέω (teléō, “to perform religious rites, to complete”), from τέλος (télos, “end, fulfillment, accomplishment, consummation, completion”). Doublet of telesm.

talisman · noun²

Uncertain. Perhaps a corruption of some Arabic word.