"ghost" in seven languages
Meaningghost
Spanish
fantasma
/fanˈtasma/
masc.learned
Masculine despite its -a, like many Greek words: el fantasma.
French
fantôme
/fɑ̃tom/
masc.inherited
Worn down in speech; Old French fantosme.
Italian
fantasma
/fanˈtazma/
masc.learned
plural: fantasmi
Portuguese
fantasma
/fɐ̃ˈtazmɐ/
masc.learned
Romanian
fantomă
/fanˈtomə/
fem.borrowed · French fantôme
Catalan
fantasma
/fənˈtazmə/
masc.learned
English
ghost
/ɡoʊst/
native English · Old English gāst 'spirit, breath'
English → ItalianghostfantasmaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: phantom, phantasm, fantasy.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PHANTASMA (from Greek)‘apparition’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian took the Greek-Latin word whole; French wore it down to fantosme, then fantôme, its circumflex marking the lost s. English phantom comes from the Old French form.
English relatives: phantom, phantasm, fantasy
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Crees en los fantasmas?
- frTu crois aux fantômes ?
- itCredi ai fantasmi?
- ptVocê acredita em fantasmas?
- roCrezi în fantome?
- caCreus en els fantasmes?
- enDo you believe in ghosts?
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