Incubus

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.bəs/

Definitions

1. A male demon believed to visit sleeping people at night, especially to seduce women | a nightmare or oppressive burden that weighs heavily upon the mind
2. A malevolent spirit or demon that oppresses sleepers in their dreams | a heavy psychological or emotional burden that haunts and troubles the mind
3. A nocturnal male demon imagined to sexually assault sleeping individuals | any persistent mental weight or distressing preoccupation that troubles consciousness

Etymology: The word "incubus" refers to a male demon from medieval folklore believed to visit sleepers at night, particularly women, and in some accounts to engage in sexual activity with them. The term entered English in the 14th century, inherited through Old French "incubus" from the Late Latin "incubus," which itself was derived from the Latin verb "incubare," meaning "to lie upon" or "to brood over." The Latin root "incubare" is composed of the prefix "in-" (meaning "on" or "upon") combined with "cubare" (meaning "to lie" or "to recline"). This literal sense of lying upon something is the core of the word's origin. The Romans used "incubare" in a straightforward physical sense — for instance, a bird incubating eggs was literally lying upon them to keep them warm. The noun form "incubus" originally denoted this act of lying upon, but it acquired a supernatural dimension in Late Latin as Christian and medieval writers drew on earlier pagan and Jewish demonological traditions to describe malevolent spirits that supposedly pressed down upon sleeping people. The concept itself predates the Latin term. Ancient Mesopotamian, Hebrew, and Greek sources contain accounts of demons that visited people during sleep, and the medieval European incubus likely synthesized these older traditions with Classical vocabulary. Medieval writers and theologians adopted the Latin "incubus" to describe this phenomenon, finding the metaphor of something "lying upon" a sleeper apt for capturing the sensation of nightmares and sleep paralysis, which were often attributed to demonic visitation. The term remained in use throughout the medieval period and into the Renaissance, appearing in medical and theological texts as physicians and scholars attempted to explain the phenomenon. By the Early Modern period, "incubus" had become a standard English word for this class of demon, and it has remained relatively stable in meaning since then. The related feminine form, "succubus," entered English around the same time and refers to a female demon believed to seduce men in their sleep; it derives from the Latin "succubare," meaning "to lie beneath."

Synonyms: nightmare, demon