spook

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”); compare German Spuk (“ghost, apparition”), Middle Low German spok (“spook”), Swedish spok (“scarecrow”), Norwegian spjok (“ghost, specter”)

Pronunciation

• enPR: spo͞ok, IPA^(key): /spuːk/
• Rhymes: -uːk

Noun

spook (plural spooks)

1. A spirit returning to haunt a place.

   The visit to the old cemetery brought scary visions of spooks and ghosts.

2. A ghost or an apparition.

   The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.

3. A hobgoblin.
4. (espionage) A spy.
   • 2009, "Spies like them", BBC News Magazine (online), 24 July 2009:

     From Ian Fleming to John Le Carre - authors have long been fascinated by the world of espionage. But, asks the BBC’s Gordon Corera, what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?

   • 2012, The Economist, Oct 13th 2012, Huawei and ZTE: Put on hold

     The congressional study frets that Huawei’s and ZTE’s products could be used as Trojan horses by Chinese spooks.

5. A scare or fright.

   The big spider gave me a spook.

6. (dated, pejorative) A black person.
7. (philosophy) A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct.

   He who is infatuated with Man leaves persons out of account so far as that infatuation extends, and floats in an ideal, sacred interest. Man, you see, is not a person, but an ideal, a spook. — Max Stirner

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:ghost

Translations

spirit returning to haunt a place

• Dutch: spook (nl) n, geest (nl)
• Finnish: haamu (fi), aave (fi)
• German: Gespenst (de) n

• Maori: taipō, mangumangu taipō, taipō
• Swedish: spöke (sv) n, osalig ande

ghost or apparition

• Dutch: spook (nl) n, schijnsel (nl) n
• Finnish: haamu (fi), aave (fi)
• Georgian: მოჩვენება (močveneba), მოლანდება (molandeba)

• Maori: mangumangu taipō, taipō
• Russian: при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak)
• Swedish: spöke (sv) n

hobgoblin

• Dutch: kabouter (nl) c
• Finnish: peikko (fi)

• Maori: taipō

spy

• Dutch: spion (nl) c, verspieder c
• Finnish: vakooja (fi)
• French: barbouze (fr) m, espion (fr)
• Georgian: შპიონი (šṗioni), ჯაშუში (ǯašuši), მსტოვარი (msṭovari)

• Occitan: espia m, espion m
• Romanian: spion (ro) m
• Russian: шпио́н (ru) m (špión)

pejorative: black person

• Dutch: neger (nl) c
• French: bamboula (fr) m

• Russian: ни́ггер (ru) m (nígger)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} Gespenst, ^{(please verify)} Phantom, ^{(please verify)} Geist, ^{(please verify)} Spuk

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} spettro (it), ^{(please verify)} fantasma (it)

Verb

spook (third-person singular simple present spooks, present participle spooking, simple past and past participle spooked)

1. to scare, frighten
2. to startle or frighten an animal

   The movement in the bushes spooked the deer and they ran.

Translations

To scare or frighten

• Finnish: säikäyttää (fi) (causative), säikytellä (fi) (frequentative), pelästyttää (fi) (causative)
• Maori: whakamataku
• Russian: пуга́ть (ru) (pugátʹ)

• Spanish: sobresaltar (es), asustar (es), espantar (es), aterrorizar (es)
• Swedish: skrämma (sv)

To startle or frighten an animal

• Maori: whakaohorere
• Russian: вспугивать (ru) (vspugivatʹ)

• Spanish: sobresaltar (es), asustar (es), espantar (es), aterrorizar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Derived terms

Terms derived from spook

• spookhouse
• spookiness

• spookish
• spookmaster

• spook out

• spooky

See also

• Wikipedia article on ghosts

Anagrams

• Koops, SOKOP, Sopko

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch spoke, spooc, from spoke, spoocke, spoicke (“wizardry, witchcraft”), from Proto-Germanic *spōk. Further etymology unclear. Compare Middle Low German spôk; Low German spôk; Middle High German Spuch; modern High German Spuk.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

Een spook zoals dat vaak in een kinderboek getekend wordt.
A ghost such as is often drawn in a children's book.

spook n (plural spoken, diminutive spookje n)

1. phantom, ghost

   Geloof je in spoken? ― Do you believe in ghosts?

2. horror, terror

   het spook van de oorlog ― the horror of war

3. an annoying and intolerable woman

Synonyms

• geest
• fantoom

Verb

spook

1. first-person singular present indicative of spoken
2. imperative of spoken