Wiktionary

phantom

See also: Phantom

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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phantom (plural phantoms)

 
Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera
  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

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adjective

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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

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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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