incubo Italian · revision 39140

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1354, Iacopo Passavanti|origins=la cubō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈin.ku.bo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''incubo''' ''m'' (plural incubi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|incubus]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) 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.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It comes from [[la|incubō|t=to lie upon]], from [[m|la|in-|t=upon]] and [[m|la|cubō|t=to lie down]].^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary) Augustine himself explains the name more narrowly from lying with women.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The word was taken over in other languages too: [[fr|incube]] (13th century) and [[es|íncubo]].^(DEI|1998)^(Nocentini 2010) It also lived on in popular speech: Battisti and Alessio and Meyer-Lübke list dialect forms such as [[lmo|lenkof]] (Como), [[osp|éncovo]] and the loan [[eu|inguma]].^(DEI|1998)^(REW 1935) Prati relates the Lucchese goblin [[linchetto]] to it.^(Prati 1951|554)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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”).^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the incubus was also the demon believed to lie with women, and Domenico Cavalca speaks of ''demoni incubi''.^(Prati 1951|554)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) 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).^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|554)^(DEI|1998)

+

+ The figurative sense, an anguishing thought that will not go away, appears in Mazzini, before 1872.^(DELI 1999) Tommaseo–Bellini (1869) complained that it was overused under the influence of French ''cauchemar''.^(DELI 1999) The modern language also calls a person who is a constant torment ''un incubo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses ''incubo'' for the nightmare and the demon.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 13th century – French ''incube'' is recorded.^(DEI|1998)

+ * 1598 – Florio records the word without its pagan sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1750 – Cocchi uses it in medicine.^(Prati 1951|554)^(DEI|1998)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini criticises the figurative use.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1872 – Mazzini uses it for an anguishing thought.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|nightmare]], a frightening dream, often with a feeling of oppression: ''Stanotte ho avuto un incubo terribile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mythology)'' An [[m|en|incubus]], the demon believed to weigh on a sleeper.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A constant anguish or worry: ''l'incubo del mutuo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, colloquial)'' A person who is a constant torment: ''Quel vicino è un incubo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incuboso]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incubare]]

+ * [[succubo]]

+ * [[linchetto]]

+ * [[la|incubō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is stressed on the first syllable, ''ìncubo''; the stress ''incùbo'' was noted by Praga but is considered arbitrary.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}