ghost word
noun
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.
Origin of ghost word
1First recorded in 1885–90
Words Nearby ghost word
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ghost word in a sentence
And the word “dord,” one of the strangest in the whole dictionary, is known as a “ghost word.”
What's the Difference Between Ghouls, Goblins, and Ghosts? | Dictionary.com | November 1, 2010 | THE DAILY BEASTBut it is unrecorded in literature and labours under the suspicion of being a ghost-word.
The Romance of Words (4th ed.) | Ernest Weekley
British Dictionary definitions for ghost word
ghost word
noun
a word that has entered the language through the perpetuation, in dictionaries, etc, of an error
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
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