phantom

phantom

See also: Phantom

English

Alternative forms

• fantom (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæntəm/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æntəm

Noun

phantom (plural phantoms)

1. A ghost or apparition.
2. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; an image that appears only in the mind; an illusion or delusion.
3. (bridge) A placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.
4. (medical imaging) A test object. A test phantom is an object that reproduces the characteristics of human tissue.

Synonyms

• ghost
• See also Thesaurus:ghost

Derived terms

• phantomwise

Related terms

• fantasy

Translations

something having no physical reality

Armenian: ուրվական (hy) (urvakan) Bulgarian: привидение (bg) n (prividenie), илюзия (bg) f (iljuzija) Catalan: fantasma (ca) m Czech: přízrak m Danish: fantom c Dutch: fantoom (nl) Esperanto: fantomo Finnish: aave (fi) French: fantôme (fr) m German: Phantom (de) n Greek: Φαντομάς (Fantomás) Ancient: φάντασμα n (phántasma), φάσμα n (phásma) Irish: amhailt f Italian: fantasma (it) m, spettro (it) m Japanese: 幻 (ja) (maboroshi) Maori: mariko, pō-mariko, pō-mārikoriko Middle English: fantome Norwegian: fantom c, fantomet Persian: شبح‎ (fa) (šabah) Plautdietsch: Spuak m Polish: fantom (pl) m Portuguese: fantasma (pt) m Romanian: fantomă (ro) f Romansch: fantom m Russian: при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak), тень (ru) f (tenʹ), фанто́м (ru) m (fantóm) Sardinian: pantùma, pantàsima, umbra f Spanish: fantasma (es) m Sumerian: 𒈠𒊬 (/mamud/), 𒆤 (/lil/), 𒋝𒋝 (/sisig/), 𒄇 (/gidim/) Swedish: fantom (sv) m Tagalog: bibit

test object

Portuguese: fantoma m

Adjective

phantom (not comparable)

1. Illusive.
   • 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:

     […] (it was the town's humour to be always gassing of phantom investors who were likely to come any moment and pay a thousand prices for everything) — “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. […]”

2. Fictitious or nonexistent.

   a phantom limb

Derived terms

• phantom debt
• phantom limb
• phantomness
• phantom pain

Translations

unreal or fictitious

Bulgarian: илюзорен (bg) (iljuzoren) Italian: immaginario (it) m, immaginaria (it) f, irreale (it) Maori: mariko Russian: нереальный (ru) (nerealʹnyj), иллюзорный (ru) (illjuzornyj), фантомный (ru) (fantomnyj)

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “phantom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Hampton