ˈspektə n. (US specter) 1 a
ghost. 2 a
haunting presentiment or
preoccupation (the spectre of war). 3 (in comb.) used in
the names of
some animals
because of
their thinness,
transparency, etc. (spectre-bat; spectre-crab). øSpectre of the Brocken a
huge shadowy image of the
observer projected on mists
about a mountain-top (observed on the Brocken in Germany). [F spectre or L
spectrum: see SPECTRUM]