short for 餓鬼道 (gakidō): the hungry ghost realm, one of the six realms of reincarnation in Buddhist cosmology · a preta: the spirit of a jealous or greedy person who, as punishment for mortal vices, has been cursed with insatiable hunger · the souls of the dead who languish in oblivion without any surviving relatives to pray for their peace
eş: 小僧, 坊主
köken: Borrowing from Middle Chinese compound 餓鬼 (MC ngaH kjw+jX, “hungry + ghost”). Compare modern Min Nan reading gō-kúi. The Chinese term derives from the importation of Buddhism into China, as a translation of Sanskrit प्रेत (preta).
dead person; dead creature; the dead · preta (a type of supernatural creature born to undergo punishments or sufferings as a result of the sinful deeds committed in a previous life) · very tall person
köken: Borrowed from Sanskrit प्रेत (preta, “dead body; dead person; ghost; etc”, literally “one who has gone; one who has departed; one who has passed away”). Cognate with English preta; Lao ເຜດ (phēt); Old Khmer preta; Modern Khmer ប្រេត (praet). Cognate also with Pali peta, whence Thai เปต (bpèet).