A phantom, ghost, or goblin-like creature from Scottish and Northern English folklore; a frightening apparition.
From Scottish/Northern English dialect 'bogle,' possibly from Slavic 'bog' (god) or related to Bulgarian 'bogy,' or possibly from Middle English. The word entered English folklore vocabulary around the 14th-15th centuries with unclear ultimate origin.
The word 'bogle' is so regionally Scottish that Sir Walter Scott used it constantly in his novels, and it became romanticized as part of Scottish identity—now Americans know 'bogle' only through Scottish literature, showing how one region's ghost-word can become another's literary treasure.
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