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incubo

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word incubo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1354, Iacopo Passavanti
Borrowed from
Latin incubus
Ultimate origin
Latin cubō

Pronunciation

  • /ˈin.ku.bo/[1]

Forms

incubo m (plural incubi)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin incubus, a learned word.[2][3][4][1] The Late Latin word, found in Saint Augustine (before 430), means “the one who lies on top”: the evil spirit believed to settle on the chest of a sleeper and choke him.[2][3][5] It comes from Latin incubō (“to lie upon”), from in- (“upon”) and cubō (“to lie down”).[2][6][7][1] Augustine himself explains the name more narrowly from lying with women.[2]

The word was taken over in other languages too: French incube (13th century) and Spanish íncubo.[8][3] It also lived on in popular speech: Battisti and Alessio and Meyer-Lübke list dialect forms such as Lombard lenkof (Como), Old Spanish éncovo and the loan Basque inguma.[8][9] Prati relates the Lucchese goblin linchetto to it.[10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Iacopo Passavanti (1354), on the nightmare: Chiamano alcuni questo sogno demonio, ovvero incubo, dicendo ch'è uno animale a modo d'uno satiro, o come un gatto mammone (“Some call this dream a demon, or incubus, saying that it is an animal like a satyr or like a monkey”).[2][11]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the incubus was also the demon believed to lie with women, and Domenico Cavalca speaks of demoni incubi.[10][11] In 1598 Florio records the word without the pagan belief, and in medicine it named the feeling of oppression in sleep from the 18th century (Cocchi, 1750).[2][10][8]

The figurative sense, an anguishing thought that will not go away, appears in Mazzini, before 1872.[2] Tommaseo–Bellini (1869) complained that it was overused under the influence of French cauchemar.[2] The modern language also calls a person who is a constant torment un incubo.[4][6]

Timeline

  • 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses incubo for the nightmare and the demon.[2][4]
  • 13th century – French incube is recorded.[8]
  • 1598 – Florio records the word without its pagan sense.[2]
  • 1750 – Cocchi uses it in medicine.[10][8]
  • 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini criticises the figurative use.[2]
  • Before 1872 – Mazzini uses it for an anguishing thought.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A nightmare, a frightening dream, often with a feeling of oppression: Stanotte ho avuto un incubo terribile.[4][12][5]
  2. (mythology) An incubus, the demon believed to weigh on a sleeper.[4][5][13]
  3. (figurative) A constant anguish or worry: l'incubo del mutuo.[4][12][6]
  4. (figurative, colloquial) A person who is a constant torment: Quel vicino è un incubo.[4][6][7]

Word family

  • incuboso
  • incubare
  • succubo
  • linchetto
  • Latin incubō

Usage notes

The word is stressed on the first syllable, ìncubo; the stress incùbo was noted by Praga but is considered arbitrary.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  8. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1998
  9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 554
  11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Incubo.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/incubo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·