Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
phantasm
6 dictionary results for: phantasm
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
phan·tasm       [fan-taz-uhm] Pronunciation Key
–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
phan·tasm       (fān'tāz'əm)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
phantasm

noun
1. a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us" [syn: apparition] 
2. something existing in perception only; "a ghostly apparition at midnight" [syn: apparition] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Phantasm

Phan"tasm\, n. [L. phantasma. See Phantom, and cf. Fantasm.] [Spelt also fantasm.]

1. An image formed by the mind, and supposed to be real or material; a shadowy or airy appearance; sometimes, an optical illusion; a phantom; a dream.

They be but phantasms or apparitions. --Sir W. Raleigh.

2. A mental image or representation of a real object; a fancy; a notion. --Cudworth.

Figures or little features, of which the description had produced in you no phantasm or expectation. --Jer. Taylor.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com