iazmă
Romanian
Alternative forms
- iasmă
Etymology
Uncertain; possibly from a reduction of agheasmă (“holy water”) (cf. the variant aiasmă), in that it was believed to ward off apparitions, and is thus used euphemistically; compare the expressions cruce'n casă or bată-l crucea, which refer to the Devil. Other proposed etymologies are less likely, such as Slavic jazva ("wound"), old German ethma ("spirit")[1].
Noun
iazmă f (plural iezme)
- ghost, (evil) spirit, phantom, spectre, spook, fright
Synonyms
- (ghost, phantom): spectru, fantomă, fantasmă, apariție, strigoi
References
- http://www.dex.ro/iasm%C4%83