incubus

Forms

incubus m (genitive incubī); second declension^[1] Also spelled ⟨incibus⟩, ⟨incybus⟩ and ⟨inquibus⟩.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin incubō (“to lie upon”),^[2][1][3] a second-declension noun beside the classical ⟨incubō, -ōnis⟩, “nightmare spirit”.^[1][4] Isidore of Seville explained the name from incumbō (“to lie on”), in the sense of violating.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Itala, the Old Latin Bible.^[5] In Jerome's Life of Paul a creature of the desert says it is one of those whom the heathen worship as Fauns, Satyrs and incubi.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Augustine reports that the Silvani and Pans, whom the common people call incubī, have often behaved wickedly towards women;^[2][7][3] Georges explains that popular belief put the nightmare down to these woodland gods.^[3] Gregory the Great says the Latins call incubī the beings the Greeks call Pans, human in form above and bestial below,^[2] and Isidore of Seville identifies them with the shaggy pilōsī.^[2][8] The Latin version of Oribasius treats it instead as a disease, the ephialtes, saying that it is no demon but a serious illness,^[2] and a poem in the Latin Anthology applies it in jest to a lustful man.^[2]

Medieval writers used it of a demon that lies with women:^[9][10][11] Geoffrey of Monmouth places such spirits between the moon and the earth, and John of Salisbury reports that some believed Aristotle to be the son of one.^[9] Physicians kept the sense “nightmare”, explaining the name by the weight that seems to press on sleepers.^[9][10] The MLW also records it of a spirit guarding buried treasure, and hence of an unlawful possessor,^[10] and Wincenty Kadłubek uses it of a greedy man brooding over his wealth.^[12] English incubus is recorded from about 1200.^[4]

Timeline

• after 220 AD – The Itala, Köbler's first source, uses it.^[5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine says the people call the Silvani and Pans incubī.^[2][7][5]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome names incubi beside Fauns and Satyrs.^[2][6][5]
• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great describes them as half human, half beast.^[2][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville identifies them with the pilōsī.^[2][5]
• c. 1160 – John of Salisbury reports that some thought Aristotle the son of an incubus.^[9][5]
• c. 1200 – English borrows incubus.^[4]
• 1209–1214 – Gervase of Tilbury tells of Silvani and Pans called incubi.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) An incubus, a demon or woodland spirit thought to lie on sleepers and to lie with women.^{[2][7][3][9][10]}
2. (Late Latin, medicine) The nightmare, a feeling of being pressed down in sleep.^{[2][9][10][11][1]}
3. (Medieval Latin) A spirit guarding buried treasure; hence an unlawful possessor, a greedy hoarder.^[10][12]

Related words

• incumbō
• English incubus

Usage notes

The TLL also records a feminine incuba, glossed in an Old English glossary by maere, “nightmare”.^[2] The female counterpart of the medieval demon was the succubus.^[10][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
12. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl