GHOST . A ghost = Germ. Geist (the h has crept into the word through what Earle calls an Italian affectation of spelling) is a spirit. The word is also used in Old English of the breath, the soul or spirit of a living person, and even a dead body. In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] it occurs only in the phrase ‘give up or yield up the ghost’ and in the name ‘the Holy Ghost.’ Wherever in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] hagion ‘holy’ occurs with pneuma ‘spirit,’ the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] is ‘Holy Ghost’; but when pneuma occurs alone, it is always rendered ‘Spirit’ or ‘spirit,’ according as it is supposed to refer to God or to man. See Holy Spirit and Spirit.