phantasm

noun

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phan·tasm | \ ˈfan-ˌta-zəm

variants: or less commonly fantasm

Definition of phantasm

1 : a product of fantasy: such as

a : delusive appearance : illusion

b : ghost, specter

c : a figment of the imagination

2 : a mental representation of a real object

Other Words from phantasm Synonyms Did you know? Example Sentences Learn More About phantasm

Other Words from phantasm

phantasmal \ fan-ˈtaz-məl

\ adjective

phantasmic \ fan-ˈtaz-mik

\ adjective

Did you know?

Phantasm is from Middle English fantasme, a borrowing from Anglo-French fantasme, which itself is a derivative of Latin and Greek words—and ultimately the Greek verb phantazein, meaning "to present to the mind." The Greek verb took shape from phainein, meaning "to show," and this root appears in several English words that have to do with the way things seem or appear rather than the way they really are. Phantasmagoria and diaphanous are examples. Also from this root are words such as fanciful and fantasy, in which the imagination plays an important part.

Examples of phantasm in a Sentence

frightened by the phantasms of his own making believed that she'd seen the phantasm of her father on the anniversary of his death

Recent Examples on the Web But eventually, the duo turned the phantasm into solid logic. — Quanta Magazine, 15 July 2021 Southern lawmakers baselessly claimed Black men were lynched for raping White women -- a phantasm that still haunts Black men -- and asserted laws governing lynchings were best left to the states. — Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, 27 May 2021 The album, produced by pop artisan Greg Kurstin (Adele, Paul McCartney), is a conceptual rumination on these apocalyptic times, from war to salvation with a sprinkle of biblical phantasm. — Steven J. Horowitz, EW.com, 15 Apr. 2021 That the nocturnal ritual fantasy is no fantasy, that every phantasm is a sign. — Talia Lavin, The New Republic, 29 Sep. 2020 Nor did this phantasm express itself solely in writing. — Ryan Ruby, The New York Review of Books, 8 Aug. 2020 His drawing shows an electric-blue phantasm on the wing, more like an angel or a pegasus than any earthly being. — J. B. Mackinnon, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2020 These phantasms could influence familiar particles in several ways, according to Johns Hopkins University theorist and MAGIS collaborator Surjeet Rajendran. — Charlie Wood, Scientific American, 18 Jan. 2020 Gottlieb’s story offers a fleeting glimpse into a world that is usually no more than a phantasm or a hideous dream. — BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'phantasm.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for phantasm

Middle English fantesme, fantosme, fantome, fantom "what has only a seeming reality or value, vanity, illusion, apparition, falsehood," borrowed from Anglo-French fantosme, fantasme, fantesme, fantame (continental Old French fantosme), borrowed from Latin phantasma "ghost, apparition" (Late Latin also, "mental image, figment, illusion"), borrowed from Greek phántasma "apparition, ghost, vision, dream, (in plural) phenomena, portents," derivative, with the noun suffix -mat-, -ma, corresponding to phantázein "to make visible, present to the eye or mind, (middle voice) place before one's mind, picture to oneself, imagine" — more at fantasy entry 1

Note: The Middle English word bifurcated into two phonetically distinct words in early Modern English, phantasm, which has mostly restored the form of the Latin etymon, and phantom entry 1, which more directly continues the Middle English original. According to a hypothesis in the Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, the -o- in the medieval French forms reflects *fantauma, from a presumed Ionian variant *phántagma of Greek phántasma that would have penetrated Gallo-Romance through contact with Greek speakers in Massilia (ancient Marseille). The -s- in fantosme, fantasme, etc., is an etymological restoration, as [s] would have been lost in such clusters in later medieval French.