Etymologically
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phantasma

Etymology and origin of the Latin word phantasma

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Pliny the Younger
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek φάντασμα
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (φαντάζω)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pʰanˈtas.ma][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fanˈtaz.ma][1]

Forms

phantasma n (genitive phantasmatis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “image, apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to make visible”).[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan, and their earliest example is Pliny the Younger's letter asking whether ghosts exist and have a shape.[5] Köbler's first source is Pliny the Elder, whom he dates 23/24–79 AD.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a ghost, apparition, spectre, as in Pliny the Younger.[2][5] In Augustine it meant an idea, a picture formed by the imagination.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a phantom, apparition, vision, appearance.[7] Medieval Latin used it for a mental image, idea, and a delusion.[8] A Vulgar Latin *fantauma from it gave Old French fantosme, French fantôme and English phantom about 1300, and English phantasm.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.[3]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of an idea.[6][3]
  • c. 1300 – English phantom is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ghost, apparition.[2]
  2. (Late Latin) A mental image.[6][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A delusion.[8]

Word family

  • phantasmaticus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Phantasma.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/phantasma. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·