Editing Ghost (section)

=== Usage and synonyms ===
The now-prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in [[Middle English]] (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "[[vital principle]]", "[[mind]]", or "[[psyche (psychology)|psyche]]", the seat of feeling, thought, and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, or fuzzy or unsubstantial image; in optics, [[Spirit photography|photography]], and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal.<ref name="OED-ghost" />

The synonym ''[[:wikt:spook|spook]]'' is a [[Dutch language|Dutch]] loanword, akin to [[Low German]] {{Lang|nds|spôk}} (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via [[American English]] in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=spook|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/187392|website=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=27 August 2013|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106194718/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/187392|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Mencken, H. L. (1936, repr. 1980). The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States (4th edition). New York: Knopf, p. 108.</ref><ref>''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'', Merriam-Webster, ''spook''.</ref><ref>''Webster's New World College Dictionary'' (4th edition), Wiley, ''spook''.</ref> Alternative words in modern usage include ''spectre'' (altn. ''specter''; from Latin {{Lang|la|spectrum}}), the Scottish ''wraith'' (of obscure origin), ''phantom'' (via French ultimately from Greek ''phantasma'', compare ''[[:wikt:fantasy|fantasy]]'') and ''apparition''. The term ''[[shade (mythology)|shade]]'' in [[classical mythology]] translates Greek σκιά,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ou(=tos οὗτος] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504012005/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dou(%3Dtos |date=2021-05-04 }}. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''.</ref> or Latin {{Lang|la|umbra}},<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=umbra&fromdoc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.04.0059 umbra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825235729/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=umbra&fromdoc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.04.0059 |date=2021-08-25 }}. Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, ''A Latin Dictionary''</ref> in reference to the notion of spirits in the [[Greek underworld]]. The term ''[[poltergeist]]'' is a German word, literally a "noisy ghost", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.<ref name="Cohen1984">{{cite book
|author=Cohen, Daniel
|title=The encyclopedia of ghosts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|year=1984
|publisher=Dodd, Mead
|isbn=978-0-396-08308-5
|pages=137–156
|access-date=2016-03-14
|archive-date=2023-08-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112355/https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

''[[:wikt:wraith|Wraith]]'' is a [[Scots language|Scots]] word for ''ghost'', ''spectre'', or ''apparition''. It appeared in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of ''portent'' or ''[[omen]]''. In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; the ''[[OED]]'' notes "of obscure origin" only.<ref>{{cite web|title=wraith|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230504|website=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=27 August 2013|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027041249/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230504|url-status=live}}</ref> An association with the verb ''[[:wikt:writhe|writhe]]'' was the etymology favored by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_shippey_tolkien.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125012432/http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_shippey_tolkien.html |archive-date=2013-01-25 |title=Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001) |author=Milner, Liz |website=greenmanreview.com |access-date=2009-01-04 }}</ref> Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the [[Nazgûl|Ringwraiths]] has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. [[Bogeyman|Bogey]]<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogey bogey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127025540/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogey |date=2013-01-27 }}. Merriam-Webster (2012-08-31). Retrieved on 2013-03-21.</ref> or ''[[:wikt:bogie|bogy/bogie]]'' is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet [[John Mayne]]'s ''Hallowe'en'' in 1780.<ref>Robert Chambers [https://books.google.com/books?id=sdVkAAAAMAAJ&dq=halloween+poem+%28burns%29&pg=PA154 The life and works of Robert Burns, Volume 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084903/https://books.google.com/books?id=sdVkAAAAMAAJ&dq=halloween+poem+%28burns%29&pg=PA154#v=onepage&q=halloween%20poem%20(burns)&f=false |date=2023-10-24 }} Lippincott, Grambo & co., 1854</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/words/bogie Ulster Scots – Words and Phrases:"Bogie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106100538/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/words/bogie |date=2015-11-06 }} [[BBC]] Retrieved December 18, 2010</ref>

A ''[[revenant]]'' is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("[[undead]]") corpse. Also related is the concept of a [[fetch (folklore)|fetch]], the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.