specter

specter

English

WOTD – 26 October 2015

Alternative forms

• spectre (Commonwealth English)

Etymology

From French spectre, from Latin spectrum (“appearance, apparition”). Doublet of spectrum.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛktɚ/, enPR: spĕkʹtər
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈspɛktə/, enPR: spĕkʹtə

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)

Noun

specter (plural specters) (American spelling)

1. A ghostly apparition, a phantom. [from 17th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ghost

   A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

2. (figuratively) A threatening mental image. [from 18th c.]
   • 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Samuel Moore (translator)The Communist Manifesto

     A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.

   • 2022 September 27, Mark Landler, “Truss Takes a Bold Economic Gamble. Will It Sink Her Government?”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:

     Already, the specter of higher interest rates was causing the housing market to seize up.

3. (entomology) Any of certain species of dragonfly of the genus Boyeria, family Aeshnidae. [from 20th c.]

Related terms

• spectral
• specter bat
• specter candle
• specter shrimp

Translations

ghostly apparition

Albanian: abe (sq) f, stihi (sq) f, hije (sq) f Arabic: شَبَح‎ m (šabaḥ), شَبْح‎ m (šabḥ) Belarusian: пры́від (be) m (prývid) Bulgarian: призрак (bg) m (prizrak), привиде́ние (bg) n (prividénie) Chinese: Mandarin: 幽靈／幽灵 (zh) (yōulíng), 鬼魂 (zh) (guǐhún) Czech: strašidlo (cs) n, přízrak m Egyptian: (ꜣḫ) Esperanto: fantomo, apero Finnish: kummitus (fi) French: spectre (fr) German: Gespenst (de) n, Spuk (de) m Greek: φάντασμα (el) (fántasma) Ancient: φάσμα n (phásma), φάντασμα n (phántasma) Hindi: भूत (hi) m (bhūt) Irish: arracht m Italian: spettro (it) m, fantasma (it) m Japanese: 幽霊 (ja) (ゆうれい, yūrei), 亡霊 (ja) (ぼうれい, bōrei) Korean: 유령(幽靈) (ko) (yuryeong) Latin: spectrum n, phasma (la) n Old English: scucca m Persian: شبح‎ (fa) (šabah) Polish: widmo (pl) n, zjawa (pl) f Portuguese: espectro (pt) m, aparição (pt) f Russian: при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak), привиде́ние (ru) n (prividénije), фанто́м (ru) m (fantóm) Scottish Gaelic: sgàile f, tannasg m, taibhse m or f Spanish: espectro (es) m Sumerian: 𒄇 (/gidim/), 𒆤 (/lil/), 𒋝𒋝 (/sisig/) Swedish: vålnad (sv), spöke (sv) n Ukrainian: при́вид m (prývyd) Urdu: بهوت‎ m (bhūt) Vietnamese: bóng ma (vi), ma (vi)

mental image

Bulgarian: фантом (bg) m (fantom) Czech: přízrak f,strašák (cs) f, hrozba (cs) f Esperanto: spektro German: Schreckgespenst (de) n, Spuk (de) m Greek: σκιά (el) f (skiá) Romanian: fantomă (ro) f Russian: фанто́м (ru) m (fantóm) Spanish: imagen (es) Swedish: spöke (sv) n

Anagrams

• Sceptre, recepts, respect, scepter, sceptre, spectre

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Latin

Verb

specter

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of spectō