peryton

Meaning

Noun

• A fictional winged stag.
• A radio signal which appears to come from outside the galaxy but is actually produced by terrestrial sources.

Origin

• Coined by the translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni translating Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, from Borges' invented Spanish peritio (peryton). Astrophysical use began with a paper by S. Burke-Spolaor et al. (see quotations).