phantom Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a ghostly appearing figure
    fantasm; apparition; spectre; phantasma; phantasm; specter.
    • we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us
  2. noun something existing in perception only
    fantasm; apparition; phantasma; shadow; phantasm.
    • a ghostly apparition at midnight
  3. adjective satellite something apparently sensed but having no physical reality
    • seemed to hear faint phantom bells
    • the amputee's illusion of a phantom limb

WordNet

Phan"tom noun
Etymology
OE. fantome, fantosme, fantesme, OF. fantôme, fr. L. phantasma, Gr. , fr. to show. See Fancy, and cf. Phaëton, Phantasm, Phase.
Definitions
  1. That which has only an apparent existence; an apparition; a specter; a phantasm; a sprite; an airy spirit; an ideal image.
    Strange phantoms rising as the mists arise. Pope.
    She was a phantom of delight. Wordsworth.

Webster 1913