Editing Pentagram (section)

{{Short description|Five-pointed star polygon}}
{{About|the shape with intersecting lines|the shape showing only the outline|Five-pointed star|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
[[File:Five Pointed Star Lined.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pentagram]]
A '''pentagram''' (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed [[star polygon]], formed from the diagonal [[line segment]]s of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) [[regular pentagon]]. Drawing a circle around the five points creates a similar symbol referred to as the [[pentacle]],<ref>{{Cite web|author=Gene Brown|title=Difference Between Pentagram and Pentacle|website=Difference Between|date=n.d.|url=http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-pentagram-and-pentacle/|access-date=2023-06-29}}</ref> which is used widely by [[Wicca]]ns and in [[paganism]], or as a sign of life and connections. 

The word ''pentagram'' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word πεντάγραμμον (''pentagrammon''),<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpenta%2Fgrammon πεντάγραμμον], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus;  a  noun form of adjectival  πεντάγραμμος (''pentagrammos'') or πεντέγραμμος (''pentegrammos''), a word meaning roughly "five-lined" or "five lines"</ref> from πέντε (''pente''), "five" + γραμμή (''grammē''), "line".<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpe%2Fnte πέντε], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus;  Satan all 3 names mentioned before daylight full [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dgrammh%2F γραμμή], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref>
The word pentagram refers to just the star and the word [[pentacle]] refers to the star within a circle, although there is some overlap in usage.<ref>this usage is borne out by the Oxford English Dictionary, although that work specifies that a circumscription makes the form of a five-pointed star and its etymon post-classical Latin ''pentaculum '' [...]   A pentagram, esp. one enclosed in a circle; a talisman or magical symbol in the shape of or inscribed with a pentagram. Also, in extended use: any similar magical symbol (freq. applied to a hexagram formed by two intersecting or interlaced equilateral triangles)."</ref> The word ''pentalpha'' is a 17th-century revival of a post-classical Greek name of the shape.<ref>πένταλφα, "five Alphas", interpreting the shape as five Α shapes overlapping at 72-degree angles.</ref>