spectren.
/ˈspɛktə/, U.S. /ˈspɛktər/ 1.
a. An apparition, phantom, or ghost, esp. one of a terrifying nature or aspect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [noun]
soulOE
huea1000
ghostOE
fantasyc1325
spiritc1350
phantomc1384
phantasmc1430
haunterc1440
shadowa1464
appearance1488
wraith1513
hag1538
spoorn1584
vizarda1591
life-in-death1593
phantasma1598
umbra1601
larve1603
spectre1605
spectrum1611
apparitiona1616
shadea1616
shapea1616
showa1616
idolum1619
larva1651
white hat?1693
zumbi1704
jumbie1764
duppy1774
waff1777
zombie1788
Wild Huntsman1796
spook1801
ghostie1810
hantua1811
preta1811
bodach1814
revenant1823
death-fetch1826
sowlth1829
haunt1843
night-bat1847
spectrality1850
thivish1852
beastie1867
ghost soul1869
barrow-wight1891
resurrect1892
waft1897
churel1901
comeback1908
1605 Z. Jones (title) A Treatise of Specters or straunge Sights, Visions and Apparitions appearing sensibly unto men.
1641 Lords Spiritual 15 Thus this great Goliah being handled, appeareth..rather a ghost and specter, then a body.
1712 A. Pope tr. Statius First Bk. Thebais in Misc. Poems 13 Swift as she past, the flitting Ghosts withdrew, And the pale Spectres trembled at her View.
1744 J. Harris Three Treat. ii. vi. 98 The Superstitious have not a more previous Tendency to be frightned at the sight of Spectres,..than [etc.].
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain ii. Interlude i. 104 How should I, so humbly born, Endure the graceful spectre's scorn?
1862 Macmillan's Mag. Apr. 507 The simple..explanation of spectres is that they are our own thoughts.
1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 37 A terror..As when a sudden spectre at mid-day Meets us.
b. figurative. An unreal object of thought; a phantasm of the brain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > [noun] > imaginary form, fiction
fantasy1362
figurec1384
feigning1388
idol1577
idea1593
nonentity1604
figment1624
spectre1708
1708 Ld. Shaftesbury Let. conc. Enthusiasm 81 When the Mind is taken up in Vision, and fixes its view either on any real Object, or mere Spectre of Divinity.
c. figurative. An object or source of dread or terror, imagined as an apparition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [noun] > one who or that which terrifies > object of terror (usually imaginary)
buga1425
buggart1440
gay horse1483
bogle?1507
chimera?1521
bog1527
terriculament1548
bugbear1552
bull-bear1561
hag1563
boggard1574
scare-bug1583
bull-beggar1584
kill-cow fray1589
poker1598
bug-boy1601
bogle-bo1603
mormo1605
mock-beggar1611
mormolukee1624
Tom Poker1673
raw-head1678
hobgoblin1709
bugaboo1733
Tom Po1744
spectre1774
bogy-man1862
bogy1865
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 206 Death..is a spectre which frights us at a distance.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. i. iv. 31 That same cloud-capt, fire-breathing Spectre of Democracy.
1856 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 500 The glaring eye of the dark spectre of bereavement.
1893 Black & White 29 July 122/2 The Channel Tunnel spectre is laid.
d. transferred. A person whose appearance is suggestive of an apparition or ghost.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun] > with reference to appearance
figurea1325
personagea1522
presence1705
spectre1807
1807 Salmagundi 31 Dec. 389 [She is] a mere household spectre, neither giving nor receiving enjoyment.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 362 A creature like you—a spectre—..to talk about seeking your fortune!
1879 M. A. Brown tr. J. L. Runeberg Nadeschda iv. 50 Ever since a spectre From place to place he wanders.
e. A faint shadow or imitation of something.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > [noun] > a representation > obscure
shadow1382
shadowing1642
landscapea1649
spectre1849
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [noun] > unsubstantiality or lack of substance > something lacking substance > mere appearance or image of something
shadow?c1225
shade1297
phantomc1384
moonshine1468
fume1531
show1547
eggs in moonshine?1558
smoke1559
sign1597
ghost1613
umbra1635
parhelion1636
bogle1793
simulacrum1805
phantasmagoria1821
spectre1849
1849 C. Brontë Shirley III. i. 23 With the strangest spectre of a laugh.
2. One of the images or semblances supposed by the Epicurean school to emanate from corporeal things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > ancient Greek philosophy > post-Socratic philosophy > [noun] > Epicureanism > elements of
canonic1660
film1682
spectre1785
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers 26 The spectres of Epicurus were composed of a very subtle matter.
1834 R. Southey Doctor I. 11 The old atomists supposed that the likenesses or spectres of corporeal things..assail the soul when she ought to be at rest.
3. An image or phantom produced by reflection or other natural cause.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > optical illusion > [noun] > an optical illusion > vision or apparition
visionc1290
fantasyc1325
imagec1350
figurec1384
beholdingc1440
semblance1489
idol1563
ghost1593
fancy1609
species1639
spectrala1656
spectre1801
eidolon1828
1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 514/2 Spectre of the Broken, a curious phenomenon observed on the summit of the Broken.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vi. 148 It is only within the last forty years that science has brought these atmospherical spectres within the circle of her dominion.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 22 Before each of us..stood a spectral image of a man... We stretched forth our arms; the spectres did the same.
1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 299 I must look again for this aerial and charming spectre.
4. Zoology. One or other of the insects or animals distinguished by the epithet spectre- (see Compounds 2), esp. an insect of the family Phasmidae.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > family Phasmidae
walking stick1760
leaf insect1795
spectre1798
stick insect1826
spectrum1838
phasmid1864
stick bug1868
twig insect1882
witch's horse1894
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Orthoptera > member of
spectre1798
locust1826
orthopteran1842
straight-wing1842
weta1843
orthopteron1880
orthopter1882
taipo1928
1798 Trans. Linn. Soc. 4 190 This singular animal [sc. Phasma dilatatum]..belongs to that tribe of insects which Stoll has called by the title of Spectres.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. I. iii. 69 (note) Orthoptera—consisting of Cockroaches, Locusts,..Spectres, Mantes, &c.
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xxiii. 328 The spectres..are distinguished by tarsi of five joints.
1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 152/2 Phasmidæ (Spectres, or Walking-Sticks).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > sight or spectacle > horrid
spectrea1763
a1763 W. Shenstone Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 68 To see my limbs..gash'd beneath the daring steel, To crowds a spectre, and to dogs a prey!
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive (chiefly in sense 1).
spectre-bark n.
ΚΠ
1817 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Mariner (rev. ed.) iii, in Sibylline Leaves 15 Off shot the spectre-bark.
spectre-chimera n.
ΚΠ
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vi. i. 352 Through some section of History, Nineteen spectre-chimeras shall flit,..till Oblivion swallow them.
spectre-doubt n.
ΚΠ
1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems ii. 263 Ye spectre-doubts, that roll Cimmerian darkness on the parting soul!
spectre-fashion n.
ΚΠ
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel I. x. 286 It were a shame to my household, thou shouldst glide out into the Strand after such a spectre-fashion.
spectre-horse n.
ΚΠ
1869 B. Harte in Overland Monthly Apr. 377 A phantom friar, on a spectre horse.
spectre hound n.
ΚΠ
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel vi. xxvi. 187 Like him..Who spoke the spectre-hound in Man.
spectre knight n.
ΚΠ
c1820 S. Rogers Italy (1839) 118 He had so oft beheld..The spectre~knight.
spectre monarch n.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Wilson Poems II. 305 While stern beneath the chancel high, My country's spectre monarch stood.
spectre shape n.
ΚΠ
1777 T. Warton Poems 61 We bid those spectre-shapes avaunt.
spectre ship n.
ΚΠ
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere iii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 19 Oft darts the Spectre-ship.
spectre train n.
ΚΠ
1807 Ld. Byron Childish Recoll. 7 What grisly forms, the spectre-train of woe, Bid shuddering Nature shrink beneath the blow.
spectre tribe n.
ΚΠ
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xxi. 220 The Spectre tribe..go still further in this mimicry.
spectre woman n.
ΚΠ
1817 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Mariner (rev. ed.) iii, in Sibylline Leaves 14 (margin) The spectre-woman and her death-mate.
b. Chiefly in similative adjectives.
(a)
spectre-faint adj.
ΚΠ
1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 5 The exiled Alcibiades Beheld him in the Chersonese, Yet spectre~faint.
spectre-fighting adj.
ΚΠ
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. viii, in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 443/1 At worst as a spectre-fighting Man, nay that will one day be a Spectre-queller.
spectre-lean adj.
ΚΠ
1887 G. Meredith Ballads & Poems 85 He came out of miracle cloud, Lightning-swift and spectre-lean.
spectre-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1837 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. VI. l. 812 With a few thousand miserable and spectre-looking followers.
spectre-pale adj.
ΚΠ
1928 V. Woolf Orlando v. 233 The spectre-pale beech trees.
spectre-pallid adj.
ΚΠ
1844 T. Hood Haunted House iii, in Hood's Mag. Jan. 9 But from their tarnish'd frames dark Figures gaz'd, And Faces spectre-pallid.
spectre-staring adj.
ΚΠ
1826 H. H. Milman Anne Boleyn (1827) 72 Thy tossing, feverish, spectre-staring midnights.
spectre-thin adj.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Ode to Nightingale in Lamia & Other Poems 109 Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies.
(b)
spectre-haunted adj.
ΚΠ
1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia 303 No Swain thy Spectre-haunted Plain shou'd know.
1873 E. J. Brennan Witch of Nemi 78 That dark land and spectre-haunted grove.
spectre-mongering adj.
ΚΠ
1809 Ld. Byron Eng. Bards & Sc. Reviewers 919 Let spectre-mongering Lewis aim..To rouse the galleries.
(c)
spectre-queller n.
ΚΠ
1834Spectre-queller [see spectre-fighting adj. at Compounds 1b(a)].
C2. Special combinations.
spectre-bat n. a tropical species of bat ( Vespertilio or Phyllostoma spectrum).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [noun] > suborder Microchiroptera > family Desmodontidae (vampire bat)
vampire1774
spectre-bat1781
vampire bat1790
flying-dog1796
javelin-bat1861
1781 T. Pennant Hist. Quadrupeds II. 552 Spectre Bat... Inhabits South America.
1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 71 Phyllostoma Spectrum (Spectre or true Vampyre Bat).
spectre-candle n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 172/2 Belemnite, Thunderstone, or Arrowhead..: we..find the term Devil's fingers bestowed on them, and not unfrequently that of spectre-candles.
spectre-crab n. a glass-crab.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Specter-crab, a glass-crab; one of the larval forms which were called Phyllosomata.
spectre insect n. an insect of the genus Phasma (see 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > family Phasmidae > genus Phasma > member of
spectre insect1826
spectre-mantis1840
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. 90 The largest egg known..is that of a spectre insect (Phasma dilatatum), figured in the Linnean Transactions.
1886 A. Geikie Class-bk. Geol. 359 Spectre-insects (Phasmidæ)..have been detected chiefly among the shales and coals of the Coal-measures.
spectre-lemur n. = spectre tarsier n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > [noun] > member of suborder Prosimii (lemurs, etc.) > family Tarsiidae (tarsier)
tarsier1774
malmag1838
spectre tarsier1871
spectre-lemur1882
tarsioid1913
1882 A. R. Wallace in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 427 The Tarsier, or spectre~lemur, of the Malay islands.
spectre-mantis n. = spectre insect n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > family Phasmidae > genus Phasma > member of
spectre insect1826
spectre-mantis1840
1840 F. D. Bennett Narr. Whaling Voy. I. 343 The insects we found here were the spectre~mantis; a purple butterfly [etc.].
spectre-shell n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Concha spectrorum, the spectre shell, a name given by authors to a species of voluta, from some odd figures described on its surface [etc.].
spectre-shrimp n. a slender-bodied amphipod of the genus Caprella.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Arthostraca > order Amphipoda > suborder Caprellidea > member of genus Caprella
spectre-shrimp1882
1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 212 The popular name of Spectre, or Skeleton Shrimp, seems very appropriate.
spectre tarsier n. a small lemuroid animal ( Tarsius spectrum).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > [noun] > member of suborder Prosimii (lemurs, etc.) > family Tarsiidae (tarsier)
tarsier1774
malmag1838
spectre tarsier1871
spectre-lemur1882
tarsioid1913
1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 250 The Spectre Tarsier, which inhabits the Oriental Archipelago and the Philippine Islands.
Derivatives
ˈspectre v. transitive to fill with spectres.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [verb (transitive)] > fill with ghosts
spectre1849
1849 Aytoun Old Camp ii It hath a look that makes me old, and spectres time again.
ˈspectredom n. the realm or region of spectres.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > realm of imagination > [noun] > imaginary place > of spectres
shadowland1821
spectredom1883
1883 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. III. 930 Part and parcel of this heathenish spectredom.
1897 Daily Tel. 20 July 7/3 The tyranny of the manager of spectredom.
spectre-like adj. and adv.
ΚΠ
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 301 Not making quite so staring a Spectre-like Figure as I did.
1834 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 1 726/1 Spectre-like they stray, And soon their steps in distance die away.
1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha in Soudan 41 The camels glided noiselessly and spectre-like over the track.
Draft additions September 2021
spectre at the feast (also banquet): a person or thing whose presence spoils an otherwise pleasant event, occasion, or situation, esp. by forcing others to acknowledge a distressing, uncomfortable, or shameful fact or memory.Chiefly with allusion to the appearance of Banquo's ghost in the banquet scene of Shakespeare's Macbeth iii. iv.Cf. ghost at the feast, a skeleton at the feast.
ΚΠ
1831 Lady's Bk. Nov. 288/2 They deem me one With whom life's love hath ceased; They slip their visors, and I see The spectre at the feast.
1900 H. Macpherson Herbert Spencer vi. 95 Enthusiastic hopes..were entertained of the human race from the Age of Reason... Like the spectre at the banquet, Malthus appeared with his gloomy prophecies of the future.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 19 Apr. (Weekend section) 4 My daughter is to marry next month, and her previously absent father has decided to attend the wedding... He will truly be the spectre at the feast.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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