Word of the Day : October 31, 2020

wraith \RAYTH\ noun

Definition

1 a : the exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition

b : ghost, specter

2 : an insubstantial form or semblance : shadow

3 : a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column

Did You Know?

If you see your own double, you're in trouble, at least if you believe old superstitions. The belief that a ghostly twin's appearance portends death is one common to many cultures. In German folklore, such an apparition is called a Doppelgänger (literally, "double goer"); in Scottish lore, they are wraiths. The exact origin of the word wraith is misty, however, and etymologists can only trace it back to the early 16th century—in particular to a 1513 translation of Virgil's Aeneid by Gavin Douglas (the Scotsman used wraith to name apparitions of both the dead and the living). In current English, wraith has taken on additional, less spooky, meanings; it now often suggests a shadowy—but not necessarily scary—lack of substance.

Aired October 31, 2020

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