Meaning

noun a trinket or piece of jewelry usually hung about the neck and thought to be a magical protection against evil or disease

originFrom French talisman, partly from Arabic طِلَّسْم (ṭillasm, “payment”), from Ancient Greek τέλεσμα (télesma, “payment”); and partly directly from Byzantine 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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0