phylacter
/fəˈlæktəɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
Etymology
Borrowed from French phylactère, from Middle French filatiere, philaterie, philatiere, and Old French filatiere, philatiere (“amulet; reliquary; tefilla”), from Late Latin phylacterium (“amulet; reliquary; tefilla”), from Koine Greek φῠλᾰκτήρῐον (phŭlăktḗrĭon, “amulet; tefilla”) (used in the New Testament to translate Hebrew תפילין (“tefillin”)), from Ancient Greek φῠλᾰκτήρῐον (phŭlăktḗrĭon, “fortified outpost, watchman’s post; protection, safeguard”), from φυλακτήρ (phulaktḗr, “guard, watcher”) + -ῐον (-ĭon, suffix forming nouns). Φυλακτήρ (Phulaktḗr) is derived from φυλακ- (phulak-) (the stem of φῠλᾰ́σσω (phŭlắssō, “to guard, watch; to defend, protect”)) + -τήρ (-tḗr, suffix forming masculine agent nouns); and φῠλᾰ́σσω (phŭlắssō) from φῠ́λᾰξ (phŭ́lăx, “guard, sentry”), probably Pre-Greek.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: phylactère, filatiere, phylacterium, φῠλᾰκτήρῐον
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fəˈlæktəɹ/
- British English: /fɪˈlæktə/