I am not an native english speaking person, I did not even know what this word means until I read this thread.
I can't help but look at this problem from a translator's (linguistic) point of view.
The word is german and means 'a loud ghoust'. If there is no english word for a loud ghost, whatever meaning there is in that word is of german origin and is inseparable from say german mentality, folklore tradition and practical use of the word since ancient times.
What gives the word it's meaning is the circumstances and the way and intents it's been used in practise.
It's closest meaning and circumstantial evidence is the one found in official german dictionaries.
Old words wich tend to skip from one language to another tend to become 'umbrella' terms for different things.
In my opinion it is better to invent new words for a new idea, or new terminology introduced into science, so as to avoid confusion and emphasise their speciality.
Different languages have different creatures contrived out of different lifestyles and everyday routines. Those differences reflect the differences that exist between cultures.
Every language has its own specific relationship with reality and words cannot be tramped easily between them because they carry with themselves specific signature of this relation.
I think because we are all forced to learn english if we want to communicate with the rest of the world, this language in time will grow to except other language's words specific folk colour with them.
I can translate my thoughts, but I can't translate my reality into english.
I hope you don't find this post to be offtopic.
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