spook English · revision 1068

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spuːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|nl|spook|t=ghost]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[dum|spooc|t=spook, ghost]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The word has Germanic relatives such as Middle Low German ''spōk'' and [[de|Spuk|t=ghost, apparition]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) but its further origin is unknown.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The OED finds no certain cognates outside Germanic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A ghost or spectre, often used jokingly; first in American English (1801).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first appeared in print in a comic dialect poem attributed to an old Dutchman in Albany, New York,^(Etymonline) and its early use was American.^(OED 1989) A related form ''spuke'' entered Pennsylvania English by 1830 from German ''Spuk''.^(Etymonline) The ghostly sense led to a verb, at first “to walk as a ghost” (1867–71)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and “to haunt” (1883),^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) and in the 20th century to the senses “to frighten” (1935) and “to take fright” (1928).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) An undercover agent was called a ''spook'' by 1942,^(OED 1989) and the word was also used from the 1940s as a racial slur.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1801 – a ghost or spectre.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1867 – verb, to haunt or scare (Barnhart); to walk as a ghost (Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – verb, to haunt a person or place.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1928 – to take fright, to become alarmed.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1935 – to frighten or unnerve.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – an undercover agent, a spy.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[ghost]] or [[specter]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' An undercover agent; a [[spy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang, offensive)'' A disparaging term for a Black person.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[haunt]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To frighten or unnerve, especially to startle an animal into sudden flight.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To become frightened or nervous, used especially of animals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spookish]]

+ * [[spookery]]

+ * [[spooky]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[specter]]

+ * [[phantom]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}