I. noun
also fan·tom ˈfantəm, ˈfaan-
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English fantosme, fantome, fantom from Middle French fantosme, from Latin phantasma — more at phantasm
1. obsolete : mere appearance or seeming : illusion
2.
a. : something (as a specter or an optical illusion) that is apparent to the sight or other sense but has no actual or substantial existence : apparition , figment
is not all that I see a lie — a deceitful phantom — George Borrow
b. : something elusive or visionary : will-o'-the-wisp
the glittering phantoms of wealth and fashion, the whole pageantry of the metropolis, were dissolved by the suicide — M.D.Geismar
c. : an object of continual dread or abhorrence : bogey , bugbear
the phantom of a Holy War has been exorcised — A.L.Guérard
the phantoms of disease and want
3. : one that is something in appearance but not in reality : a mere show : shadow
only a phantom of a king
maintain but the phantom of authority
4. : a representation or shadowing forth of something abstract, ideal, or incorporeal
she was a phantom of delight — William Wordsworth
5.
a. : a manikin or a model of the body or one of its parts
b. : a body of material resembling a body part in mass, composition, and dimensions and used to measure absorption or radiations
6. : phantom circuit
7. : ghost 14
8. : a halftone or drawing having certain details shown as though transparent or translucent so as to indicate various especially internal parts of a machine in their working position
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English fantom, from fantom, n.
1. : being a phantom : of the nature of or suggesting a phantom
headless blacksmiths, phantom black dogs, haunted houses — American Guide Series: Maryland
a phantom ship
a. : illusory
phantom pain
phantom pregnancy
amputee's illusion of a phantom organ — Psychological Abstracts
conjuring up phantom dangers of feudal aristocracy — V.L.Parrington
— compare phantom limb
b. : operating or placed so as to seem or to be invisible : unembodied , elusive
proved again that they are a phantom army — W.O.Douglas
his phantom crew miles away on the ground — Time
phantom voices
c. : fictitious , dummy
phantom voters
a phantom regime
2. : of or relating to a phantom circuit
phantom wire
3. : showing certain details as though transparent or translucent so as to indicate various especially internal parts of a machine in their working position
phantom drawing
phantom halftone
phantom view
— compare exploded