ghostking

English

Alternative forms

• ghost-king, ghost king

Etymology

Perhaps from an unrecorded Middle English *gost-kyng, (compare Middle English hevonking (“king of heaven”), folc-king (“king of the people”), etc.); or directly from Old English gāstcyning (“soul’s king, God”), equivalent to ghost +‎ king.

Noun

ghostking (plural ghostkings)

1. A king of ghosts or spirits; a ghostly or spiritual king; a king of one's own spirit or soul; a god; God.
   • 1918, Charles Augustus Kincaid, Dattātraya Baḷavanta Pārasanīsa, A history of the Maratha people - Volume 1 - Page 11:

     At last Vikramaditya called to his aid Vetal, the great ghost king.

   • 2002, Sean Russell, The One Kingdom: Book One of the Swans' War - Page 90:

     Birds of all kinds live in Greensprings in summer, even the white eagle that we call the ghostking.

   • 2003, Hsüan Hua, Sutra Text and Supplements - Page 198:

     Moreover, measureless great yaksha generals, rakshasa kings, putana kings, kumbhanda kings, pishacha kings, Vinayaka, the great ghost kings, and all the ghost commanders came before the Buddha, [...]

   • 2004, Robert E. Howard, The Bloody Crown of Conan - Page 356:

     Conan, dispossessed of his throne and dead (or believed so) had in fact all the qualities of the Danish ghostking.

   • 2005, Heidi Munan, Bidayuh Stories: Stories from Sarawak - Page 14:

     They just grow out of cracks in the black rocks. "Never mind what it is! Will you give her back to us?" asked Noheb. He was holding the sword over the Ghost King's head. Jagat was holding the spear against the Ghost King's chest.

   • 2005, Ursula Zzirg, Shakespeare and Michelangelo:

     The play, which began with the dead soldier ghost King appearance of which Horatio told Hamlet, comes full circle when Fortinbras, announces dead soldier honors and burial for ghost King's dead son Prince Hamlet, and prepares to listen to Horatio tell Hamlet's story, [...]

   • 2005, John Eldredge, Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul:

     They are the ghost kings of the high country, more cautious and wary than deer, and more difficult to track.