Definitive Jest

Entry: revenant (n.)


In context: "Schtitt calls Hal Incandenza his 'revenant,' now, and sometimes points his pointer at him in an affectionate way from his observation crow's nest in the transom, during drills."

Definition: A person who returns from the dead; a reanimated corpse; a ghost

Other: Some great usages here, such as 1823   Q. Rev. July 460   The apparition of a dead man is termed a Gienganger, that is to say, a revenant, one who ‘gangs again’.

and

1880   J. H. Shorthouse John Inglesant II. xiii. 274   The yellow glamour of the sunset‥clothed in transparent radiance this shadowy revenant from the tomb.

but definitely not

2004   Believer Oct. 69/1   Vampires‥seem to be few and far between. They are such specialized revenants when compared to ghosts.

SNOOT score: 2

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Source: Oxford English Dictionary