Hoplochrism

//ˈhɒpləʊkɹɪzm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The superstitious practice of applying a salve, ointment, or chrism to a weapon that has caused an injury — rather than to the injury itself — in the belief that doing so will heal the wound that the weapon caused; weapon salve. historical, rare, uncountable

    "For quotations using this term, see Citations:hoplochrism."

Example

More examples

"For quotations using this term, see Citations:hoplochrism."

Etymology

Formed as hoplo- (“weapon”) + chrism (“consecrated oil mingled with balm”, “unguent”); equivalent to the Ancient Greek ὅπλον (hóplon, “weapon”) + χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “salve”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.