different between mirage vs phantom

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French mirage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?????d?/
• IPA^(key): /m??????/
• Rhymes: -???

Noun

mirage (plural mirages)

1. An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.

   Hypernym: optical illusion

   Hyponym: Fata Morgana

2. (figuratively) An illusion.

Translations

Verb

mirage (third-person singular simple present mirages, present participle miraging, simple past and past participle miraged)

1. (transitive) To cause to appear as or like a mirage.

Further reading

• mirage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Margie, gamier, imager, maigre

French

Etymology

mirer +? -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.?a?/

Noun

mirage m (plural mirages)

1. mirage

Descendants

Further reading

• “mirage” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• émigra
• gémira
• germai
• maigre

English

Alternative forms

• fantom (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English fantom, fantum, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from ??????? (phantáz?, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fænt?m/

Noun

phantom (plural phantoms)

1. A ghost or apparition.
2. Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; an image that appears only in the mind; an illusion or delusion.
3. (bridge) A placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.
4. (medical imaging) A test object. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• ghost
• See also Thesaurus:ghost

Derived terms

• phantom limb
• phantom pain

Related terms

• fantasy

Translations

Adjective

phantom (not comparable)

1. Illusive.
2. Fictitious or nonexistent.

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “phantom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Hampton