word of the day :: spectre

spectre:

[spek-ter]

–noun Chiefly British

1. a visible incorporeal spirit, esp. one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition.

2. some object or source of terror or dread.

Origin:

1595-1605; < L spectrum; see SPECTRUM

"It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, so being wholly neither."

 :: Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens ::

* Definition from www.dictionary.com