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Definition of phantasm - 5 dictionary results

phan⋅tasm

  [fan-taz-uhm]
Use phantasm in a Sentence
–noun
1. an apparition or specter.
2. a creation of the imagination or fancy; fantasy.
3. a mental image or representation of a real object.
4. an illusory likeness of something.
Also, fantasm.

Origin:
1175–1225; < L phantasma < Gk phántasma image, vision (akin to phantázein to bring before the mind); r. ME fantesme < OF < L as above

Synonyms:
1. ghost, vision. See apparition. 4. hallucination, illusion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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phan·tasm   (fān'tāz'əm)   
n.  

  1. Something apparently seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or an apparition. Also called phantasma.

  2. An illusory mental image. Also called phantasma.

  3. In Platonic philosophy, objective reality as perceived and distorted by the five senses.


[Middle English fantasme, from Old French, from Latin phantasma, from Greek, from phantazein, to make visible, from phantos, visible, from phainein, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.]
phan·tas'mal (fān-tāz'məl), phan·tas'mic (-tāz'mĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

phantasm 
c.1225, fantesme, from O.Fr. fantasme, from L. phantasma "an apparition, specter," from Gk. phantasma "image, phantom," from phantazein "to make visible, display," from stem of phainein "to show," from PIE base *bha- "to shine" (cf. Skt. bhati "shines, glitters," O.Ir. ban "white, light, ray of light"). Spelling conformed to L. from 16c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: phan·tasm
Pronunciation: 'fan-"taz-&m
Function: noun
1 : a figment of the imagination or disordered mind
2 : an apparition of a living or dead person
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

phantasm phan·tasm (fān'tāz'əm)
n.

  1. Something apparently seen but having no physical reality; an apparition.

  2. An illusory mental image.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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