wraith

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The Word of the Day for October 29 is:

wraith   \RAYTH\   noun
     1 a : the exact likeness of a living person seen usually 
just before death as an apparition *b : ghost, specter 
     2 : an insubstantial form or semblance : shadow 
     3 : a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column

Example sentence:
     "As the twilight deepened, she dreaded to raise her head 
and look at the dark corners of the room, lest his wraith, the 
offspring of her excited imagination, should be waiting there, 
to startle her." (Charles Dickens, _Dombey and Son_)

Did you know?
     If you see your own double, you're in trouble, at least if 
you believe old superstitions. The belief that a ghostly twin's 
appearance portends death is one common to many cultures. In 
German folklore, such apparitions were called "doppelgangers" 
(literally, "double goers"); in Scottish lore, they 
were "wraiths." The exact origin of the word "wraith" is misty, 
however. Etymologists can only trace it back to its first known 
use in an English text, which was a 1513 classical translation 
by Scotsman Gawin Douglas (he used it to name apparitions of 
both the dead and the living). In current English, "wraith" has 
taken on additional, less spooky, meanings as well; it now often 
suggests a shadowy -- but not necessarily scary -- lack of 
substance. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.