Ghost word

Ghost word

A ghost word is a word that has been published in a dictionary, or has been adopted as genuine, as the result of misinterpretation or a typographical error.

An example is the supposed Homeric Greek word στητη = "woman", which arose thus: In Iliad Book 1 line 6 is the phrase διαστητην ερισαντε = "two [= Achilles and Agamemnon ] stood apart making strife", where later someone not familiar with dual number verb inflections read it as δια στητην ερισαντε = "two making strife because of a στητη", and he guessed that στητη meant the woman Briseis who was the subject of the strife.

Another is the placename Sarum, which arose by misunderstanding the medieval-type writing abbreviation Sar~ which was intended to mean some early form such as "Sarisberie" (= Salisbury).

ee also

*dord
*Nihilartikel


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • ghost word — n. [term invented by W. W. SKEAT W(alter) W(illiam)] a word created through misreading of manuscripts, misunderstanding of grammatical elements, etc. and never really established in a language …   English World dictionary

  • ghost word — noun a word form that has entered the language through the perpetuation of an error • Hypernyms: ↑form, ↑word form, ↑signifier, ↑descriptor * * * noun also ghost name : an accidental word form never in established usage; …   Useful english dictionary

  • ghost word — noun Date: 1886 a word form never in established usage …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • ghost word — a word that has come into existence by error rather than by normal linguistic transmission, as through the mistaken reading of a manuscript, a scribal error, or a misprint. [1885 90] * * * …   Universalium

  • ghost word — noun A fictitious word that has been published in a dictionary, or has been listed as genuine, as the result of misinterpretation or a typographical error …   Wiktionary

  • ghost word — noun a word which is recorded in a dictionary but is not actually used …   English new terms dictionary

  • ghost word — /ˈgoʊst wɜd/ (say gohst werd) noun a word with no etymological basis, created through the misunderstanding of an editor, or the mistake of a scribe or printer …  

  • word — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Written communication Nouns 1. word, term, expression, locution, linguistic unit or form, word form, lexeme; homonym, synonym, antonym, heteronym, homophone; syllable, monosyllable, polysyllable; stem,… …   English dictionary for students

  • word form — noun the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached • Syn: ↑form, ↑signifier,… …   Useful english dictionary

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