Talisman

 WORD OF THE DAY

talisman / noun / TAL-iss-mun

Definition
1: an object held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune
2: something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects

Examples
"Brooklyn-born [Margaret Wise Brown] … demonstrated her quirky personality early on, once toting a rabbit in a basket onto a train. (This rabbit became a talisman, as Brown wrote 26 books whose titles bore the words bunny or rabbit.)"
— Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2021

Gareth Bale regularly shines on the international stage, thriving on the responsibility of being Wales’ talisman.
— James Nalton, Forbes, 21 June 2021

Did You Know?
The English language may have borrowed talisman from French, Spanish, or Italian; all three include similar-looking words for a lucky charm that derive from an Arabic word for a charm, ṭilsam.
Ṭilsam traces to ancient Greek telein, which means "to initiate into the mysteries."