Pentangles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A geometric figure with five points, often formed by connecting five straight lines
2. a symbol used in various cultures to represent balance and harmony
3. a representation of mystical beliefs, often associated with protection and spirituality

Etymology: Pentangle is the name the Gawain poet gave to the five-pointed star that Sir Gawain wears on his shield in the late fourteenth-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." The poet explains that the figure is drawn with one unbroken line and that each of its points stands for a virtue tied to the knight, such as fidelity and courtesy. The word itself is a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin "pentangulum," from Latin "pentagonum," so it is a close relative of "pentagon." The Latin word was itself built from Greek "pente," meaning five, and "gonia," meaning angle, which is why the same five-cornered idea appears in both words. The pentangle is also an ancient symbol that long predates the poem. Pythagoreans reportedly used it as a sign of health, and it turns up in Mesopotamian and later European decorative art. Its use as a knightly emblem in the poem gave the English word its best-known literary moment, though the "pentangle" in the poem is a specific symbol rather than a general term for any five-pointed figure.