specter

English

WOTD – 26 October 2015

Alternative forms

• spectre (Commonwealth English)

Etymology

From French spectre, from Latin spectrum (“appearance, apparition”). Doublet of spectrum.

Pronunciation

• enPR: spĕkʹtər, IPA^(key): /ˈspɛktɚ/
• enPR: spĕkʹtə, IPA^(key): /ˈspɛktə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)

Noun

specter (plural specters) (American spelling)

1. A ghostly apparition, a phantom.

   A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

2. (figuratively) A threatening mental image.
   • Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto

     A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ghost

Related terms

• spectral
• specter bat
• specter candle
• specter shrimp

Translations

ghostly apparition

• Arabic: شَبَح m (šabaḥ), شَبْح m (šabḥ)
• Belarusian: пры́від (be) m (prývid)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幽靈／幽灵 (zh) (yōulíng), 幽灵 (zh) (yōulíng), 鬼魂 (zh) (guǐhún)

• Czech: strašidlo (cs) n, přízrak m
• Finnish: kummitus (fi)
• French: spectre (fr)
• German: Gespenst (de) n, Spuk (de) m
• Greek: φάντασμα (el) (fántasma)

  Ancient: φάσμα n (phásma), φάντασμα n (phántasma)

• Hindi: भूत (hi) m (bhūt)
• Irish: arracht m
• Italian: spettro (it) m, fantasma (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 幽霊 (ja) (ゆうれい, yūrei), 亡霊 (ja) (ぼうれい, bōrei)
• Korean: 유령 (ko) (yuryeong) (幽靈 (ko))
• Latin: spectrum n, phasma (la) n
• Persian: شبح (fa) (šabah)
• Polish: widmo (pl) n, zjawa (pl) f
• Portuguese: espectro (pt) m, aparição (pt) f
• Russian: при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak), привиде́ние (ru) n (prividénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgàile f, tannasg m, taibhse m or f
• Spanish: espectro (es) m
• Sumerian: 𒄇 (/⁠gidim⁠/), 𒆤 (/⁠lil⁠/), 𒋝𒋝 (/⁠sisig⁠/)
• Swedish: vålnad (sv), spöke (sv) n
• Ukrainian: при́вид m (prývyd)
• Urdu: بهوت m (bhūt)
• Vietnamese: bóng ma (vi), ma (vi)

mental image

• Czech: přízrak f,strašák (cs) f, hrozba (cs) f
• German: Schreckgespenst (de) n, Spuk (de) m
• Greek: σκιά (el) f (skiá)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: fantomă (ro) f
• Spanish: imagen (es)
• Swedish: spöke (sv) n

Anagrams

• Sceptre, recepts, respect, scepter, sceptre, spectre

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) specter

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of spectō