Triskaidekaphobia ( , ; ) is fear or avoidance of the number . It is also a reason for the fear of Friday the 13th, called paraskevidekatriaphobia () or friggatriskaidekaphobia (). The term was used as early as in 1910 by Isador Coriat in Abnormal Psychology. Origins The supposed unlucky nature of the number 13 has several theories of origin. Although several authors claim it is an older belief, no such evidence has been documented so far. In fact, the earliest attestation of 13 being unlucky is first found after the Middle Ages in Europe. Playing cards Tarot card games have been attested since at least around 1450 with the Visconti-Sforza Tarot. One of the trump cards in tarot represents death and is the card number 13 in several variants. In 1781, Antoine Court de Gébelin writes this in a French book involving Tarot of Marseilles: Le no. XIII. représente la Mort [...] Il n'est pas étonnant qu'elle soit placée sous ce numéro; le nombre treize fut toujours regarde comme malheureux. Number XIII represents Death [...] It is not astonishing that it is placed under this number; the number thirteen was always looked upon as unlucky. In 1784, Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf writes a German book on the origins of playing cards, cites Gébelin, and reaffirms that the tarot card number 13 is death and misfortune ("Der Tod, Unglück"). 13 at a table Since at least 1774, the "13 at a table"-superstition has been documented: if 13 people sit at a table, then one of those must die that year. The origin of the superstition is unclear and various ideas have been presented over the years. In 1774, Johann August Ephraim Götze speculates: Da ich aus der Erfahrung weis, daß der Aberglaube nichts liebers, als Religionssachen, zu seinen Beweisen macht; so glaube ich bey nahe nicht zu irren, wenn ich den Ursprung des Gegenwärtigen mit der Zahl XIII, von der Stelle des Evangelii herleite, wo der Heiland, bey der Ostermahlzeit, mit zwölf Jüngern zu Tische saß. Since I know from experience that superstition loves nothing better than religious matters as its proofs, I believe I'm almost not mistaken when I derive the origin of the present with the number XIII from the passage of the Gospel where the Savior sat at table with twelve disciples at the Easter meal. From the 1890s, a number of English language sources resurface the