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fantom

[fan-tuh m]
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noun, adjective
  1. phantom.
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phantom

or fan·tom

[fan-tuh m]
noun
  1. an apparition or specter.
  2. an appearance or illusion without material substance, as a dream image, mirage, or optical illusion.
  3. a person or thing of merely illusory power, status, efficacy, etc.: the phantom of fear.
  4. 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.
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or of the nature of a phantom; illusory: a phantom sea serpent.
  2. Electricity. noting or pertaining to a phantom circuit.
  3. named, included, or recorded but nonexistent; fictitious: Payroll checks were made out and cashed for phantom employees.
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Origin of phantom

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

Synonyms

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5. imaginary.

Synonym study

1, 2. See apparition.

Antonyms

5. real, material.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fantom

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for fantom

fantom

noun
  1. an archaic spelling of phantom
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phantom

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

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.

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fantom in Medicine

fantom

(făn′təm)
n.
  1. Variant ofphantom
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phantom

n.
  1. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality.
  2. An image that appears only in the mind; an illusion.
  3. A model, especially a transparent one, of the human body or of any of its parts.
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adj.
  1. Resembling, characteristic of, or being a phantom; illusive.
  2. Fictitious; nonexistent.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.