different between phantasmagoria vs phantasmal

English

Alternative forms

• phantasmagory, fantasmagoria

Etymology

From French phantasmagorie, from Ancient Greek ???????? (phántasma, “ghost”) + possibly either ????? (agorá, “assembly, gathering”) + the suffix -ia or ??????? (agoreú?, “to speak publicly”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fæntæzm?????i.?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fæntæzm??????i.?/
• Rhymes: -??ri?

Noun

phantasmagoria (plural phantasmagorias)

1. (historical) A popular 18th- and 19th-century form of theatre entertainment whereby ghostly apparitions are formed.

   Synonym: magic lantern

2. A series of events involving rapid changes in light intensity and colour.
3. A dreamlike state where real and imagined elements are blurred together.
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life Chapter V

     It is impossible to convey, in words, any idea of the hideous phantasmagoria of shifting limbs and faces which moved through the evil-smelling twilight of this terrible prison-house. Callot might have drawn it, Dante might have suggested it, but a minute attempt to describe its horrors would but disgust. There are depths in humanity which one cannot explore, as there are mephitic caverns into which one dare not penetrate.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• phantasmagoria on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Phantasmagoria in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

English

Alternative forms

• fantasmal

Etymology

phantasm +? -al

Adjective

phantasmal (comparative more phantasmal, superlative most phantasmal)

1. Of or pertaining to ghosts or phantoms.
2. Eerie or frightening.
3. Expresses qualities of or produced from fantasy.

Related terms

• phantasm
• phantasmagoria
• phantom
• phantasy

Translations