Word Study
ghoul
CIDE DICTIONARY
ghoul, n. [Per. gh an imaginary sylvan demon, supposed to devour men and animals: cf. Ar. gh, F. goule.].
An imaginary evil being among Eastern nations, which was supposed to feed upon human bodies. Moore. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
ghoul, n.
1 a person morbidly interested in death etc.
2 an evil spirit or phantom.
3 a spirit in Muslim folklore preying on corpses.
1 a person morbidly interested in death etc.
2 an evil spirit or phantom.
3 a spirit in Muslim folklore preying on corpses.
Derivative
ghoulish adj. ghoulishly adv. ghoulishness n.
Etymology
Arab. gul protean desert demon
DEVIL DICTIONARY
ghoul
n. A demon addicted to the reprehensible habit of devouring the dead. The existence of ghouls has been disputed by that class of controversialists who are more concerned to deprive the world of comforting beliefs than to give it anything good in their place. In 1640 Father Secchi saw one in a cemetery near Florence and frightened it away with the sign of the cross. He describes it as gifted with many heads an an uncommon allowance of limbs, and he saw it in more than one place at a time. The good man was coming away from dinner at the time and explains that if he had not been "heavy with eating" he would have seized the demon at all hazards. Atholston relates that a ghoul was caught by some sturdy peasants in a churchyard at Sudbury and ducked in a horsepond. (He appears to think that so distinguished a criminal should have been ducked in a tank of rosewater.) The water turned at once to blood "and so contynues unto ys daye." The pond has since been bled with a ditch. As late as the beginning of the fourteenth century a ghoul was cornered in the crypt of the cathedral at Amiens and the whole population surrounded the place. Twenty armed men with a priest at their head, bearing a crucifix, entered and captured the ghoul, which, thinking to escape by the stratagem, had transformed itself to the semblance of a well known citizen, but was nevertheless hanged, drawn and quartered in the midst of hideous popular orgies. The citizen whose shape the demon had assumed was so affected by the sinister occurrence that he never again showed himself in Amiens and his fate remains a mystery.THESAURUS
ghoul
Baba Yaga, Dracula, Frankenstein, Lilith, Wolf-man, afreet, ape-man, barghest, body snatcher, bogey, bogeyman, booster, bugaboo, bugbear, cacodemon, chicken thief, con man, crook, daeva, demon, den of thieves, devil, devil incarnate, dybbuk, embezzler, evil genius, evil spirit, fee-faw-fum, fiend, fiend from hell, filcher, frightener, ganef, genie, genius, ghost, grafter, grave robber, gyre, harpy, hellhound, hellion, hellkite, hobgoblin, holy terror, horror, incubus, jewel thief, jinni, jinniyeh, lamia, land pirate, land shark, land-grabber, larcener, larcenist, lifter, monster, nightmare, ogre, ogress, peculator, petty thief, phantom, pilferer, poacher, prowler, purloiner, rakshasa, revenant, robber, satan, scarebabe, scarecrow, scarer, scrounger, shedu, shoplifter, sneak thief, specter, stealer, succubus, swindler, terror, the undead, thief, vampire, werewolf, white-collar thief, yoginiROGET THESAURUS
ghoul
Demon
N demon, daemon, demonry, demonology, evil genius, fiend, familiar, daeva, devil, bad spirit, unclean spirit, cacodemon, incubus, Eblis, shaitan, succubus, succuba, Frankenstein's monster, Titan, Shedim, Mephistopheles, Asmodeus, Moloch, Belial, Ahriman, fury, harpy, Friar Rush, vampire, ghoul, afreet, barghest, Loki, ogre, ogress, gnome, gin, jinn, imp, deev, lamia, bogie, bogeyman, bogle, nis, kobold, flibbertigibbet, fairy, brownie, pixy, elf, dwarf, urchin, Puck, Robin Goodfellow, leprechaun, Cluricaune, troll, dwerger, sprite, ouphe, bad fairy, nix, nixie, pigwidgeon, will-o'-the wisp, ghost, revenant, specter, apparition, spirit, shade, shadow, vision, hobglobin, goblin, orc, wraith, spook, boggart, banshee, loup-garou, lemures, evil eye, merman, mermaid, merfolk, siren, satyr, faun, manito, manitou, manitu, possession, demonic possession, diabolic possession, insanity, Maxwell's demon, demoniac, demonic, demonical, impish, demoniacal, fiendish, fiend-like, supernatural, weird, uncanny, unearthly, spectral, ghostly, ghost-like, elfin, elvin, elfish, elflike, haunted, pokerish, possessed, possessed by a devil, possessed by a demon, demonically.Evil doer
N evil doer, evil worker, wrongdoer, mischief-maker, marplot, oppressor, tyrant, destroyer, Vandal, iconoclast, firebrand, incendiary, fire bug, pyromaniac, anarchist, communist, terrorist, savage, brute, ruffian, barbarian, semibarbarian, caitiff, desperado, Apache, hoodlum, hood, plug-ugly, Red Skin, tough, Mohawk, Mo-hock, Mo-hawk, bludgeon man, bully, rough, hooligan, larrikin, dangerous classes, ugly customer, thief, cockatrice, scorpion, hornet, snake, viper, adder, snake in the grass, serpent, cobra, asp, rattlesnake, anaconda, canker-worm, wire-worm, locust, Colorado beetle, alacran, alligator, caymon, crocodile, mosquito, mugger, octopus, torpedo, bane, cutthroat, cannibal, anthropophagus, anthropophagist, bloodsucker, vampire, ogre, ghoul, gorilla, vulture, gyrfalcon, gerfalcon, wild beast, tiger, hyena, butcher, hangman, blood-hound, hell- hound, sleuth-hound, catamount, cougar, jaguar, puma, hag, hellhag, beldam, Jezebel, monster, fiend, devil incarnate, demon in human shape, Frankenstein's monster, harpy, siren, Furies, Eumenides, Hun, Attila, scourge of the human race, faenum habet in cornu.For further exploring for "ghoul" in Webster Dictionary Online
