köken: From Middle High German alb, alp, from Old High German alp, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós. Doublet of Elf, borrowed from English later.
köken: Inherited from Middle French cauchemare, from Old French cauquemare. By surface analysis, cauque + mar. Compare Walloon tchôcmwår. * First element from Old French cauche, from the verb chauchier (“to press”), from Latin calcare (“to trample, tread on”), from calx (“heel”), of uncertain origin. * Second element from Frankish *marā (“evil spirit”), from Proto-West Germanic *marā, from…
köken: From Middle Dutch nachtmerie, nachtmere, likened to merrie (“female horse”) through folk etymology; the actual formation is from nachtmare. Equivalent to nacht + mare.
köken: Via Ancient Greek ἐφιάλτης (ephiáltēs) (compare Ἐφιάλτης (Ephiáltēs)) from Ancient Greek ἐπιάλλω (epiállō), Attic Greek ἐφιάλλω (ephiállō, “send to, throw upon”).
köken: Borrowed into Western Finnish dialects from Swedish mara, which is a demon that sits on the chest of a sleeping person and causes bad dreams. This demon is known by similar names among Germanic peoples and lives in English nightmare, in Swedish mardröm (“nightmare”) and in German Nachtmahr (“nightmare”), among others.
köken: From incubō (“to lie upon, brood over, be a burden to”, verb) + -us (second-declension nominalizing suffix). An alternative formation to third-declension Classical incubō, incubōnis (“incubus, nightmare”, noun).
...Siluanos et Panes, quos uulgo incubos uocant, inprobos saepe extitisse mulieribus et earum appetisse ac peregisse concubitum;
Pilosi, qui Graece Panitae, Latine Incubi appellantur, sive Inui ab ineundo passim cum animalibus.