ghostology

English

Etymology

From ghost +‎ -ology.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡəʊsˈtɒləd͡ʒi/

Noun

ghostology (usually uncountable, plural ghostologies)

  1. The knowledge or study of ghosts or spirits; the science of the supernatural; spiritism.
    • a. 1865 (date written; first published 1872 January–August), Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Una Hawthorne, Septimius Felton; or The Elixir of Life, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, published 1872, →OCLC, page 75:
      It did not lessen Septimius's surprise, however, to think that such a singular being was established in the neighborhood without his knowledge; considered as a real occurrence of this world, it seemed even more unaccountable than if it had been a thing of ghostology and witchcraft.
    • 1908, H. Addington Bruce, “The Ghost Seen by Lord Brougham”, in Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters[1]:
      This, as all students of ghostology are aware, has frequently been the case; and it was precisely the case with the ghost seen by the famous Lord Brougham, []
    • 1957, William L. Fischer, Critical Notes on Evolution, page 30:
      Experts in ghostology know exactly, where ghosts live, how they behave, how to deal with them, how to make them appear and disappear.

See also