ghost word

ghost word

n.

A word that has come into a dictionary, grammar, or other scholarly work as a result of a misreading or misinterpretation, as by mistaking a typographical error for an actual word.

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ghost word

n

(Linguistics) a word that has entered the language through the perpetuation, in dictionaries, etc., of an error

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

ghost word - a word form that has entered the language through the perpetuation of an error descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached"