deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form” only emerges in Middle English (14th century).[5] The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via the United States in the 19th century.[6][7][8][9] Alternate words in modern usage include spectre (from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek ????,[10] or Latin umbra,[11] in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. “Haint” is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States[12], and the “haint tale” is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition.[13]
The term poltergeist is a German word, literally a “noisy ghost”, for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.[14] The word “ghost” may also refer to any spirit or demon.[2][15][16] A revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated (“undead”) corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.
Find More Pagans Believe Articles
Pages: 1 2