phan·tas·ma

(făn-tăz′mə)

n. pl. phan·tas·ma·ta (-mə-tə)

[Ultimately from Greek phantasma; see phantasm.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phan•tasm

(ˈfæn tæz əm)

n.

1. an apparition or specter.

2. a creation of the imagination or fancy; fantasy.

3. a mental image or representation of a real object.

4. an illusory likeness of something.

[1175–1225; Middle English fantesme < Old French < Latin phantasma < Greek phántasma image, vision]

phan•tas′mal, phan•tas′mic, phan•tas′mi•cal, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	phantasma - a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us" apparition, fantasm, phantasm, phantom, spectre, specter disembodied spirit, spirit - any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or audible) to human beings Flying Dutchman - the captain of a phantom ship (the Flying Dutchman) who was condemned to sail against the wind until Judgment Day
	2.	phantasma - something existing in perception only; "a ghostly apparition at midnight" fantasm, phantasm, phantom, shadow, apparition flying saucer, UFO, unidentified flying object - an (apparently) flying object whose nature is unknown; especially those considered to have extraterrestrial origins Flying Dutchman - a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope ghost, specter, wraith, spectre, spook, shade - a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters from his past" illusion, semblance - an erroneous mental representation

phantasma

noun

1. A supernatural being, such as a ghost:

apparition, bogey, bogeyman, bogle, eidolon, ghost, phantasm, phantom, revenant, shade, shadow, specter, spirit, visitant, wraith.

Informal: spook.

Regional: haunt.

2. An illusory mental image:

daydream, dream, fancy, fantasy, fiction, figment, illusion, phantasm, reverie, vision.

3. An erroneous perception of reality:

delusion, hallucination, ignis fatuus, illusion, mirage, phantasm, will-o'-the-wisp.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

Suparna Roychoudhury, "Melancholy, Ecstasy, Phantasma: The

Seeing the Invisible under the Microscope: Natural Philosophy and John Donne's Flea

(19) El Diccionario de Autoridades tambien registra otro significado de la voz 'phantasma: "Dicese de cualquiera figura extrana y que pone miedo.

Ya soy mio: Escarraman y la autonomia del arte en El rufian viudo llamado Trampagos

As expected, the Phantom counters with a higher offer for Christine to perform in his Coney Island revue "Phantasma." The Phantom is also intrigued by Christine's musically gifted son, Gustave (Cary native Casey Lyons and Jake Heston Miller alternate in the role).

'Love Never Dies' a beautifully sung yet unnecessary 'Phantom' sequel

Freud's concept of Phantasma succeeded in crediting the psychological reality of memories regardless of their factuality, but was also highly influential in establishing psychotherapy as a practice of confronting (as opposed to escaping) reality.

The Role of Desired Future Selves in the Creation of New Experience: The Case of Greek Unemployed Young Adults

Alternative words in modern usage include spectre (from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French, ultimately from Greek phantasma), and apparition.

Ghosts: illusion or reality?

(1) Joan Ramon Resina's "A Spectre is Haunting Spain" argues that domestic threats to unity posed by the peninsula's various territories--specifically, Euskadi and Catalonia--inspired the Generation of '98 to evoke the phantasma of Castile as embodiment of Spain.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, DRUGS, AND PROHIBITION POLITICS IN TIRANO BANDERAS

Through a careful analysis of Aquinas's use of the terms similitudo and phantasma, the author presents a good case for taking imaginative phantasms not as inner images with which we are directly and introspectively acquainted, but rather as a kind of residue of acts of sensation already completed.

Lisska, Anthony. Aquinas's Theory of Perception: An Analytic Reconstruction

La peculiaridad de este don es la purificacion de los conceptos sobre Dios (phantasma) y establecer un orden en el conocimiento.

Depravatio Scripturae. Tomas de Aquino ante los errores hermeneuticos en la exeeesis biblica