English
ghost
Ghost comes from Middle English gost ‘a spiritual being’, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz ‘terror, fear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysd-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰéysd-reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰéysdosreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaistaz‘terror’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaist‘ghost’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gāst‘breath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gost‘a spiritual being’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590ghost
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰéysd-reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰéysdosreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaistaz‘terror’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaist‘ghost’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gāst‘breath’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gost‘a spiritual being’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590ghost
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “hen gins her grieued ghost thus to lament and…”
The story
The noun is derived from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, gǣst (‘breath, spirit, soul, ghost’) (compare modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, from *ǵʰéysd- (‘anger, agitation’). The h in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton’s Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the “Holy Ghoost”. It was likely influenced by Middle Dutch gheest, a common variant of geest. Both Caxton and his assistant Wynkyn de Worde had connections to the Low Countries.
Linked words
through Proto-West Germanic *gaist ‘ghost, spirit’
Today it means
noun A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysd- / ghost