ghost word

ghost word (plural ghost words)

1. A fictitious or erroneous word, originally meaningless, that has been published in a dictionary or similarly authoritative reference book, or has been listed as genuine, generally as the result of misinterpretation or a typographical error.
   • 2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 65:

     Anglo-Indian English was recognised in colonial days as having unique features, but it was never called Hobson-Jobson at that time. Therefore, this is really a ghost word, or, rather, a ghost meaning.

• dord
• Nihilartikel
• Walter William Skeat
• Appendix:English dictionary-only terms
• 幽霊文字 (ゆうれいもじ, ​yuurei moji), a similar phenomenon featuring Japanese kanji