mascot
/ˈmaskɒt
/noun
A person or thing that is supposed to bring good luck, especially one linked to a particular organization or event: the team’s dolphin mascot...
- The event, in which mascots race each other over a series of fences, has been going for three years.
- Virtually every Native American organization has condemned the use of demeaning images or mascots.
- The mascots will be teamed up with players according to their height.
Origin
Late 19th century: from French mascotte, from modern Provençal mascotto, feminine diminutive of masco 'witch'.
The French operetta La Mascotte by Edmond Audran had its première on 29 December 1880. The next year the word made its first appearance in English. French mascotte derives from masco ‘witch’ in the dialect of southern France. At first mascot meant simply ‘a person or thing supposed to bring good luck’ and did not have to be carried or displayed, as now.