English
phasm
Phasm may come from Latin phasma ‘an apparation, specter, phantom’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphasma‘an apparation, specter, phantom’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1654phasm
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphasma‘an apparation, specter, phantom’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1654phasm
Earliest quotation: 1654, Henry Hammond, Of Fundamentals in a Notion Referring to Practise: “For heart is besides that from thence proceed many…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
focus, phone, professor, famous, fuel, ben, favor, favourite, ban, fate, fame, profession, photographer, fatal, bee, fairy, fabulous, abandon, infant, confession, confess, beacon, beck, symphony, boon, eff, fab, fay, bane, fable, foyer, banish, buoy, nefarious, prophetic, profess, bene, banal, infamy, prophesy, 115 more
through Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō ‘to appear’
through Ancient Greek φαίνω ‘to cause to appear’
fancy, fantasy, phenomenon, emphasis, phantom, epiphany, fantasia, phenomenology, phenomenally, phenol, phenom, tryptophan, phantasm, 40 more
Today it means
noun An apparition; a phantom.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin phasma / phasm