Wraith

Pronunciation

• enPR: rāth, IPA: /ɹeɪθ/
• Rhymes: -eɪθ

Origin

First attested 1513, in the Middle Scots translation of the Aeneid: "Nor áµ¹it na vayn wrathys nor gaiftis quent Thi char conftrenyt bakwart forto went," "Syklyke as that, thai fay, in diuers placis The wraithis walkis of goiftis that ar ded," "Thydder went this wrath or fchaddo of Ene, That femyt, all abafyt, faft to fle,".

The word has no certain etymology. J. R. R. Tolkien favored a link with writhe. Also compared are Scottish Gaelic warth and Old Norse vörðr ("watcher, guardian"), whence Icelandic vörður ("guard"). See wray/wreien and bewray; therefore "fama..figuras" becomes "wraithis".

Full definition of wraith

Noun

1. A ghost or specter, especially seen just after a person's death.
• 1513, Gawin Douglas, The Æneid of Virgil: Translated into Scottish Verse Chapter XI, The wraithis walkis of goistis that ar ded,
• 1917 , Edgar Rice Burroughs , A Princess of Mars Chapter , We might indeed have been the wraiths of the departed dead upon the dead sea of that dying planet for all the sound or sign we made in passing.
• 2001, w, Middle Age: A Romance, Like wraiths with the impediments of bodies they stumbled in the direction of Salthill faces.

Synonyms

Derived terms

• wraithish
• wraithful
• wraithlike