/ ˈfæntæzəm; NAmE / noun
( formal ) a thing seen in the imagination
SYN illusion
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense deceptive appearance ): from Old French fantasme , via Latin from Greek phantasma , from phantazein make visible, from phainein to show. The change from f- to ph- in the 16th cent. was influenced by the Latin spelling.