n. & adj.
n. 1 a ghost; an apparition; a spectre. 2 a form without substance or reality; a mental illusion. 3 Med. a model of the whole or part of the body used to practise or demonstrate operative or therapeutic methods.
adj. merely apparent; illusory. phantom circuit an arrangement of telegraph or other electrical wires equivalent to an extra circuit. phantom limb a continuing sensation of the presence of a limb which has been amputated. phantom pregnancy Med. the symptoms of pregnancy in a person not actually pregnant.
[ ME f. OF fantosme ult. f. Gk phantasma (as PHANTASM) ]