wraith

Meaning

Noun

• A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.
• A showy motor vehicle, a “whip”.

Origin

• First attested 1513, in a translation of the Aeneid.{{cite-book
• |title=Eneados
• |year=1513
• |book=10
• |translator=Gawin Douglas
• |chapter=X
• |section=lines 81–82
• |passage_block=Nor ȝit na vayn wrathys nor gaiſtis quent / Thi char conſtrenyt bakwart forto went
• {{cite-book
• |title=Eneados
• |year=1513
• |book=10
• |translator=Gawin Douglas
• |chapter=XI
• |section=lines 95–96
• |passage_block=Syklyke as that, thai ſay, in diuers placis / The wraithis walkis of goiſtis that ar ded
• {{cite-book
• |title=Eneados
• |year=1513
• |book=10
• |translator=Gawin Douglas
• |chapter=XI
• |section=lines 129–130
• |passage_block=Thydder went this wrath or ſchaddo of Ene, / That ſemyt, all abaſyt, faſt to fle
• The word has Unknown. J. R. R. Tolkien favored a link with writhe. Also compared are Scots warth and Old Norse vǫrðr ("watcher, guardian"), whence Icelandic vörður ("guard"). See also wray/bewray, from Middle English wreien. Perhaps from wrath as a wraith is a vengeful spirit.