l-gang-er
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
- Debt, and its doppelganger credit, have expanded beyond all previous historical situations.
- Our genetic doppelganger had been right there watching us, even outwitting us.
- That was my doppelganger moving to a new school in the state.
| Main Entry: | doppelganger1 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | a ghostly counterpart of a person; a ghostly double of a living person |
| Etymology: | German doppel 'double' + ganger 'goer' |
| Usage: | also doppelgaenger |
| Main Entry: | doppelganger2 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | alter ego |
| Etymology: | German doppel 'double' + ganger 'goer' |
doppelganger
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doppelganger
(German: "double goer"), in German folklore, a wraith or apparition of a living person, as distinguished from a ghost. The concept of the existence of a spirit double, an exact but usually invisible replica of every man, bird, or beast, is an ancient and widespread belief. To meet one's double is a sign that one's death is imminent. The doppelganger became a popular symbol of horror literature, and the theme took on considerable complexity. In The Double (1846), by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, for example, a poor clerk, Golyadkin, driven to madness by poverty and unrequited love, beholds his own wraith, who succeeds in everything at which Golyadkin has failed. Finally the wraith succeeds in disposing of his original. An earlier, well-known story of a doppelganger appears in the novel Die Elixiere des Teufels, 2 vol. (1815-16; "The Devil's Elixir"), by the German writer of fantastic tales E.T.A. Hoffmann
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