Why this word is great
APOTROPAION — [Noun] An object, such as an amulet or charm, believed to have the power to ward off evil or misfortune. From the Ancient Greek ἀποτρόπαιον (apotrópaion), from ἀποτρέπειν (apotrépein, "to turn away, avert"), from ἀπό (apó, "away") and τρέπειν (trépein, "to turn"). Unlike a "talisman," which beckons positive fortune, or a "prophylactic," which clinically prevents disease, an apotropaion is a dedicated negation, a shield defined wholly by its defiant posture. It is the iron nail driven above a Roman doorway, the painted eye on a Greek wine cup, or the grotesque gargoyle scowling from a Gothic eave—each a silent, steadfast argument against the encroaching dark, a testament to the oldest human hope: that a gesture, however small, can turn the tide.