We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Linguistics

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is a Ghost Word?

By Alan Rankin
Updated: May 23, 2024
Views: 8,498
Share

A ghost word is a word that is invented, often mistakenly, but still becomes a part of the language. One of the most famous ghost words is “dord,” accidentally created by dictionary editors in the 1930s. As dictionaries are the standard authorities on language, such words can be accepted without question. Some ghost words and ghost phrases are the result of mistranslation of a work into English from its original language. Others were invented by writers and became part of the language through popular usage.

Words usually enter a language because of the need to name a thing or concept. In a language like English, they are often derived from words in earlier languages such as French, Latin, or Greek. Other times, a neologism, or new word, is created by altering or combining already existing words. A ghost word is different; it is generally not created by these processes, but is wholly invented, sometimes by accident. Despite this, it passes into common usage, becoming a “real” word.

The most well-known example of a ghost word is “dord.” This word was created accidentally created by the editors of the Webster’s Dictionary in the 1930s. An editor submitted a note for the dictionary’s list of abbreviations, citing “D or d” as chemists’ shorthand for “density.” A proofreading error resulted in “dord” being listed as a synonym for density. Later editors removed the entry, but not before the word had been used elsewhere, whimsically or otherwise.

Another common form of the ghost word is a “ghost phrase,” such as the famed “glass slipper” from the fairy tale Cinderella. Despite the dangerous impracticality of such footwear, the glass slipper has become a key feature of the classic story. Scholars suspect this detail was created by mistaking the French word vair, or fur, for verre, glass, when the story was first rendered in English. The Bible has similar mistranslations, such as placing an apple, a fruit not native to the Middle East, in the Garden of Eden. This is probably the result of translating the Latin word malum, which means both “evil” and “apple.”

According to Robert Hendrickson’s Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, a ghost word can result from a nonsense word invented by a writer. A prime example is “jabberwocky,” invented by Lewis Carroll for his poem of the same name. Several other nonsense words from Carroll’s poem have joined the English language as well, including “chortle,” a kind of laugh. Another example is “panjandrum,” coined by 18th-century writer Samuel Foote in a nonsense passage. Although Foote intended to make his passage impossible to memorize, the word panjandrum, meaning a pretentious official, became memorable nonetheless.

Share
Language & Humanities is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-a-ghost-word.htm
Copy this link
Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.