Pareidolia
/ˌpæɹ.aɪˈdəʊ.li.ə/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in music. countable, uncountable
"This last is called by Dr. Kahlbaum, changing hallucination, partial hallucination, perception of secondary images, or pareidolia."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Seeing a human face in a cloud is an example of pareidolia."
Etymology
Borrowed from German Pareidolie, constructed from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, “alongside”) + εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image”) + -ία (-ía). By surface analysis, par- + eidolia.