preta

Preta (Sanskrit) or Peta (Pāli), Tibetan yi.dvags, is the name for a type of supernatural being described in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain texts that undergoes more than human suffering, particularly an extreme degree of hunger and thirst. They are often translated into English as "Hungry ghosts", from the Chinese, which in turn is derived from later Indian sources generally followed in Mahayana Buddhism. In early sources such as the Petavatthu, they are much more varied. The descriptions below apply mainly in this narrower context.
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v. lend, loan, attribute

adj. black, negro

[Hindu] A Preta in Buddhist tradition is a hungry ghost. They are pictured in a human shape, with huge bloated bellies and tiny mouths, thus unable to quench their thirsts. This is a form of punishment in reincarnation. A man who has too many desires, or selfish wants in life is most likely doomed to spend a turn on the wheel of life as a Preta in search what he cannot have. Pretas have also been compared to vampires owing to their insatiable thirst.

The Sanskrit word usually translated as hungry ghost, one of the six states of existence.