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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

phantom.

A ghost or apparition.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfæntəm/

  1. A ghost or apparition.

    countable · uncountable

  2. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; an image that appears only in the mind; an illusion or delusion.

    countable · uncountable

  3. A placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.

    countable · uncountable

  4. A test object that reproduces the characteristics of human tissue.

    countable · uncountable

  5. Short for phantom power

    abbreviation · alt-of · colloquial · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Hellenic *-mə Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma)bor. Latin phantasma Old French fantosmebor. Middle English fantome English phantom Inherited 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, “to make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

adj/ˈfæntəm/

  1. Illusive.

    not-comparable

  2. Fictitious or nonexistent.

    not-comparable
    a phantom limb
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō) Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Hellenic *-mə Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma)bor. Latin phantasma Old French fantosmebor. Middle English fantome English phantom Inherited 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, “to make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.