Word of te Day: Ghost

Although it doesn't seem very interesting at first, this is probably the most colorful word I have used for WOTD so far. It is quite versatile (In fact there are many more uses and definitions that I have posted) and it has a nice, fully embellished etymology. Plus, it's a natural English word rather than borrowed!

-J

Ghost
-noun, verb, adj.

Pronunciation:
- gohst

Definition:
-noun
1. the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons.
2. a mere shadow or semblance; a trace: He's a ghost of his former self.
3. a remote possibility: He hasn't a ghost of a chance.

-verb (used with object)
4. to ghostwrite (a book, speech, etc.).
5. to haunt.

-adjective
6. fabricated for purposes of deception or fraud: We were making contributions to a ghost company.

Also as an idiom:
Give up the ghost.
a. to die.
b. to cease to function or exist.

Etymology:
O.E. gast "soul, spirit, life, breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon," from P.Gmc. *ghoizdoz (cf. O.S. gest, O.Fris. jest, M.Du. gheest, Du. geest, Ger. Geist "spirit, ghost"), from PIE base *gheis- "to be excited, amazed, frightened" (cf. Skt. hedah "wrath;" Avestan zaesha- "horrible, frightful;" Goth. usgaisjan, O.E. gaestan "to frighten"). This was the usual W.Gmc. word for "supernatural being," and the primary sense seems to have been connected to the idea of "to wound, tear, pull to pieces." The surviving O.E. senses, however, are in Christian writing, where it is used to render L. spiritus, a sense preserved in Holy Ghost. Modern sense of "disembodied spirit of a dead person" is attested from late 14c. and returns the word toward its ancient sense.

Most IE words for "soul, spirit" also double with reference to supernatural spirits. Many have a base sense of "appearance" (e.g. Gk. phantasma; Fr. spectre; Pol. widmo, from O.C.S. videti "to see;" O.E. scin, O.H.G. giskin, originally "appearance, apparition," related to O.E. scinan, O.H.G. skinan "to shine"). Other concepts are in Fr. revenant, lit. "returning" (from the other world), O.N. aptr-ganga, lit. "back-comer." Bret. bugelnoz is lit. "night-child." L. manes, lit. "the good ones," is a euphemism.

The gh- spelling appeared early 15c. in Caxton, influenced by Flem. and M.Du. gheest, but was rare in English before mid-16c. Sense of "slight suggestion" (in ghost image, ghost of a chance, etc.) is first recorded 1610s; that in ghost writing is from 1884, but that term is not found until 1919. Ghost town is from 1908. To give up the ghose "die" was in Old English. Ghost in the machine was Gilbert Ryle's term (1949) for "the mind viewed as separate from the body."

Quote with 'ghost':
"If you address a ghost as 'Thing!'
Or strike him with a hatchet,
He is permitted by the King
To drop all formal parleying--
And then you're sure to catch it!"
-Lewis Carroll

It's a weight off my shoulders too, so thanks Jordan.

Ghost. Good one.

Ooh, very clever. I never think about seemingly simple words like this... I suppose I tend to ghost over most one syllable words. :P

Call me dumb but seriously never thought of using Ghost as a VERB LOL...
thanks for that Mr. J

I love this. I think it's the roots of the most basic words that can sometimes be the most interesting. We use them all the time, and don't know how deeply they are rooted.

Also, I am henceforth spelling this word "ghoizdoz."

Thank you guys. Love all 'round. :)

Thank you Jordan, besides reminding me of The Holy Trinity Father Son, and Holy Ghost

Play
"Diamonds and Rust"
Listen to Joan Baez songs for free!

Diamonds and Rust Lyrics
Artist(Band):Joan Baez Review The Song (6) Print the Lyrics

"Diamonds and Rust"

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

"I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall "

A very multi purpose useful word.

"to ghost it" is a verb use of this word, most often found in online games, but also in some elite military units. Basically meaning the method for completing the mission is focussed on avoiding all combat and being seen as little as possible.

Janis Krummins is "ghosting" leadership of this site, for example.

Huh, really. I ghost through life quite often, then. That's why I'm a sloth.