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Webster 1913 Edition


Phantasm

Phan′tasm

,
Noun.
[L.
phantasma
. See
Phantom
, and cf.
Fantasm
.]
[Spelt also
fantasm
.]
1.
An image formed by the mind, and supposed to be real or material; a shadowy or airy appearance; sometimes, an optical illusion; a phantom; a dream.
They be but
phantasms
or apparitions.
Sir W. Raleigh.
2.
A mental image or representation of a real object; a fancy; a notion.
Cudworth.
Figures or little features, of which the description had produced in you no
phantasm
or expectation.
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition


Phantasm

PHAN'TASM

,
Noun.
[Gr. to show, to shine, to appear.]
That which appears to the mind; the image of an external object; hence, an idea or notion. It usually denotes a vain or airy appearance; something imagined.
All the interim is
Like a phantasm or a hideous dream.

Definition 2024


phantasm

phantasm

English

Alternative forms

Noun

phantasm (plural phantasms)

  1. something seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or apparition.
    • 1900, Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, (translated by James Strachey) pg. 74:
      He declares that there seems to be no justification for regarding the phantasms of dreams as pure hallucinations; most dream-images are probably in fact illusions, since they arise from faint sense-impressions, which never cease during sleep.

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