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fantom

[fan-tuh m]
||

noun, adjective

phantom.

phantom

or fan·tom

[fan-tuhm]

noun

an apparition or specter.
an appearance or illusion without material substance, as a dream image, mirage, or optical illusion.
a person or thing of merely illusory power, status, efficacy, etc.: the phantom of fear.
an illustration, part of which is given a transparent effect so as to permit representation of details otherwise hidden from view, as the inner workings of a mechanical device.

adjective

of, relating to, or of the nature of a phantom; illusory: a phantom sea serpent.
Electricity. noting or pertaining to a phantom circuit.
named, included, or recorded but nonexistent; fictitious: Payroll checks were made out and cashed for phantom employees.

Origin of phantom

1250–1300; Middle English fantosme < Middle French, Old French < Latin phantasma phantasm
Related formsphan·tom·like, adjective

Synonyms for phantom

5. imaginary.

Synonym study

1, 2. See apparition.

Antonyms for phantom

5. real, material.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fantom

Historical Examples of fantom

British Dictionary definitions for fantom

fantom

noun

an archaic spelling of phantom

phantom

noun

  1. an apparition or spectre
  2. (as modifier)a phantom army marching through the sky
the visible representation of something abstract, esp as appearing in a dream or hallucinationphantoms of evil haunted his sleep
something apparently unpleasant or horrific that has no material form
med another name for manikin (def. 2b)

Word Origin for phantom

C13: from Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasma phantasm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for fantom
n.

obsolete form of phantom.

phantom

n.

c.1300, fantum "illusion, unreality," from Old French fantosme (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fantauma, from Latin phantasma "an apparition" (see phantasm). The ph- was restored in English late 16c. (see ph). Meaning "specter, spirit, ghost" is attested from late 14c.; that of "something having the form, but not the substance, of a real thing" is from 1707. As an adjective from early 15c.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for fantom

fantom

[făn′təm]

n.

Variant ofphantom

phantom

n.

Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality.
An image that appears only in the mind; an illusion.
A model, especially a transparent one, of the human body or of any of its parts.

adj.

Resembling, characteristic of, or being a phantom; illusive.
Fictitious; nonexistent.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.