phantom

Alternative forms

• fantom (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English fantom, fantum, borrowed from Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma). Doublet of phantasm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæntəm/

Noun

phantom (plural phantoms)

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

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

Further reading

• “phantom” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.

Anagrams

• Hampton