Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Incubus
1.
A demon; a fiend; a lascivious spirit, supposed to have sexual intercourse with women by night.
Tylor.
The devils who appeared in the female form were generally called succubi; those who appeared like men
incubi
, though this distinction was not always preserved. Lecky.
2.
(Med.)
The nightmare. See
Nightmare
. Such as are troubled with
incubus
, or witch-ridden, as we call it. Burton.
3.
Any oppressive encumbrance or burden; anything that prevents the free use of the faculties.
Debt and usury is the
incubus
which weighs most heavily on the agricultural resources of Turkey. J. L. Farley.
Webster 1828 Edition
Incubus
IN'CUBUS
,Noun.
1.
The nightmare; an oppression of the breast in sleep, or sense of weight, with an almost total loss of the power of moving the body, while the imagination is frightened or astonished.2.
A demon; an imaginary being or fairy.Definition 2024
Incubus
Incubus
See also: incubus
German
Alternative forms
- Inkubus
Noun
Incubus m (genitive Incubus, plural Incubi)
- An incubus.
Declension
Declension of Incubus
See also
-
Incubus on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
incubus
incubus
See also: Incubus
English
Noun
incubus (plural incubi or incubuses)
1802 portrait of an incubus.
- An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.
- A feeling of oppression during sleep, sleep paralysis; 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 […].
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I, New York 2001, p.249:
- Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 132-3:
- Notions of civic virtue were at that moment changing, in ways which would make of Louis's alleged vices an incubus on the back of the monarchy.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 132-3:
- One of various of parasitic insects, especially Aphidiinae
Quotations
- For usage examples of this term, see Citations:incubus.
Synonyms
- (a nightmare): nightmare
Hypernyms
- (an evil spirit): evil spirit, spirit
Translations
an evil spirit
|
a nightmare
oppressive thing or person; a burden
See also
Dutch
Etymology
From Late Latin incubus, from Latin incubo (“nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper”), from incubare (“to lie upon, to hatch”).
Noun
incubus m (plural incubussen or incubi, diminutive incubusje n)
Synonyms
- (nightmare) nachtmerrie
See also
- succubus m
Latin
Etymology
From incubō¹ (“I lie upon”, “I brood over”, “I am a burden to”), perhaps via an alteration of the Classical incubō² (“incubus”, “nightmare”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈin.ku.bus/, [ˈɪŋ.kʊ.bʊs]
Noun
incubus m (genitive incubī); second declension
- (Late Latin) the nightmare, incubus
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Augustine of Hippo to this entry?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Isidore of Seville to this entry?)
Declension
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | incubus | incubī |
| genitive | incubī | incubōrum |
| dative | incubō | incubīs |
| accusative | incubum | incubōs |
| ablative | incubō | incubīs |
| vocative | incube | incubī |
Synonyms
- (nightmare, incubus): incubitor, incubō
Descendants
References
- incŭbus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- INCUBI in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “incŭbus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 801/1.
- “incubo (genet. -onis), incubus” on page 524/2 of Jan Frederik Niermeyer’s Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus (1976)