ghost
A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
“Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.”
Origin: The is derived from , from , gǣst (compare modern ), from , from , from , from *ǵʰéysd-. The h in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton’s Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the “Holy Ghoost”. It was likely influenced by , a common variant of geest. Both Caxton and his assistant Wynkyn de Worde had connections to the Low Countries. . The and are derived from the noun. The verb gained prominence in the 2010s. * , gejst * * * * , Jeest * , ghaist * * * * *. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).