ghost word

English

Alternative forms

• ghostword

Etymology

Coined by Walter William Skeat in 1886; from ghost +‎ word.

Noun

ghost word (plural ghost words)

1. (linguistics) A fictitious or erroneous word, originally meaningless (not used in practice), that has been published in a dictionary or similarly authoritative reference work or otherwise listed as genuine, generally as the result of misinterpretation, misreading, or typographical error.
   • 2006, Folia orientalia - Volumes 42-43, page 467:

     Here such cases as ghost words & misglosses, secondary semantics, different etymologies for one etymon or one etymology for different etyma, and finally semantic overpermissiveness are discussed.

   • 2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At 'Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 65:

     Anglo-Indian English was recognised in colonial days as having unique features, but it was never called Hobson-Jobson at that time. Therefore, this is really a ghost word, or, rather, a ghost meaning.

Translations

fictitious or erroneous word

• Armenian: ուրվական բառ (urvakan baṙ)
• Catalan: mot fantasma (ca) m
• Dutch: spookwoord (nl) n
• French: mot fantôme (fr) m
• German: Ghostword n, Geisterwort n
• Hungarian: szellemszó
• Japanese: 幽霊語 (yūreigo)
• Russian: несуществу́ющее сло́во n (nesuščestvújuščeje slóvo), слово-призрак n (slovo-prizrak)
• Spanish: fantasma lexicográfico, palabra fantasma (es)

See also

• nihilartikel
• sniglet
• 幽霊文字 (ゆうれいもじ, ​yuurei moji), a similar phenomenon featuring Japanese kanji

• Appendix:English dictionary-only terms
• Category:Ghost words by language

Further reading

• ghost word on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dord on Wikipedia.Wikipedia