preta

[Dave]

we already have a few exotic words from the Eastern religions, so I offer this interesting one from the omniscient Mr Webster the Larger.  It could well represent the fate of a particularly depressed Chi player who has missed the last common word for a matter of weeks...

     
Main Entry: pre·ta   

Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: Sanskrit, from pra- before, forward, away + ita gone, past participle of eti he goes -- more at FOR, ISSUE

1 Hinduism : a wandering spirit of a dead person who is not at rest
2 Buddhism : an unresting ghost tortured incessantly by hunger and thirst

Citation format for this entry:

"preta." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (7 Oct. 2007).

[Alan W]

I see from various websites that these spirits are sometimes called "hungry ghosts".

A few years ago I was in Malaysia at the time of the annual Hungry Ghost Festival. This is a month when, according to traditional Chinese belief, the dead come back to Earth looking for food. People set out feasts for their ancestors at this time. Also, the community sets out food, for the benefit of ghosts who have no descendants still living in the area. People also give the ghosts other presents, to try to appease them - often by burning large quantities of specially printed fake money, known as "hell money". All of this is probably quite irrelevant to the suggested word, since it stems from Confucian ancestor worship, rather than Buddhist or Hindu beliefs, although the Wikipedia says that Chinese Buddhism has linked this festival to its own hungry ghost concept.

Anyhow, is preta an allowable word for us? I think so - it's in the Random House dictionary, according to Dictionary.com, as well as the reference you give, Dave.

[Dave]

Good man!  It seems a sufficiently attractive concept to warrant a word, somehow, and is obviously alive, if not feeling particularly well, in the light of your background information -- it sounds like you have led an interesting life, Alan!

I was one of those silly people who put off travelling when younger for the sake of attempting to become an eternal student, paying the mortgage, all that sort of thing -- still quietly curse whenever I hear interesting travel stories, because it would all be a bit too difficult these days.