Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wraith"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wraith \Wraith\, n. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a
guardian angel, from Icel. v["o]r[eth]r a warden, guardian,
akin to E. ward. See {Ward} a guard.]
1. An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen
before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a
specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot.]
She was uncertain if it were the gypsy or her
wraith. --Sir W.
Scott.
O, hollow wraith of dying fame. --Tennyson.
2. Sometimes, improperly, a spirit thought to preside over
the waters; -- called also {water wraith}. --M. G. Lewis.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
wraith
n : a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he
looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters
from his past" [syn: {ghost}, {shade}, {spook}, {specter},
{spectre}]
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