ghost word

noun

1. a word that has come into existence by error rather than by normal linguistic transmission, as through the mistaken reading of a manuscript, a scribal error, or a misprint.

ghost word

noun

1. a word that has entered the language through the perpetuation, in dictionaries, etc, of an error

Word History and Origins

Origin of ghost word¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

And the word “dord,” one of the strangest in the whole dictionary, is known as a “ghost word.”

From The Daily Beast

But it is unrecorded in literature and labours under the suspicion of being a ghost-word.

From Project Gutenberg