incubus

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search
See also Incubus

Contents

[edit] English

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

From Late Latin incubus < Latin incubo ‘nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper’ < incubare ‘to lie upon, to hatch’ < in- ‘on’ + cubare ‘to lie’ < Proto-Indo-European base *keu(b)- ‘to bend, to turn’.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɪnkjuːbəs/

[edit] Noun

Singular
incubus

Plural
incubi or incubuses

incubus (plural incubi or incubuses)

1802 portrait of an incubus.
  1. An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
  2. A feeling of oppression during sleep; night terrors, a nightmare.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I, New York 2001, p. 249:
      it increaseth fearful dreams, incubus, night-walking, crying out, and much unquietness [...].
  3. Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.
  4. (insect) One of a genus of parasitic insects.

[edit] Quotations


[edit] Translations

[edit] See also


[edit] Dutch

[edit] Etymology

From Late Latin incubus < Latin incubo ‘nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper’ < incubare ‘to lie upon, to hatch’ < in- ‘on’ + cubare ‘to lie’ < Proto-Indo-European base *keu(b)- ‘to bend, to turn’.

[edit] Noun

incubus m. (plural incubi, diminutive incubusje, diminutive plural incubusjes)

  1. An incubus, evil spirit
  2. A nightmare, horrible dream
  3. A burden, obsession, yoke

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] See also

Personal tools