‖ incubus
(ˈɪnkjuːbəs)
Also 6 Sc. incobus. pl. incubi (-baɪ); also 7–9 incubuses, 8 incubus's, incubusses, (9 incubus).
[late L. incubus (Augustine) = cl. L. incubo nightmare; in the middle ages often represented as a malignant demon who lay upon men and women; f. L. incubāre to lie upon. Cf. F. incube (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. A feigned evil spirit or demon (originating in personified representations of the nightmare) supposed to descend upon persons in their sleep, and especially to seek carnal intercourse with women. In the Middle Ages, their existence was recognized by the ecclesiastical and civil law.
| c 1205 Lay. 15783 Heo beoð ihaten ful iwis incubii demones..monine mon on sweuene ofte heo swencheð. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8088 Þise spyrites do women schame; Incuby demones ys cald þer name, ffendes in bedde..þat many woman han forlayn. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 24 Wommen may go saufly vp and doun..Ther is noon oother Incubus but he And he ne wol doon hem but dishonour. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 419 That fend þat gooþ a nyȝt, Wommen wel ofte to begile, Incubus hatte be ryȝt. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 221 Marling also wes in tha samin dais Into Britane..Ane incobus with subtill sorcerie. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. ii. ix. (1886) 26 They [witches] use venerie with a divell called Incubus. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love ii. ii, I'll sooner clasp an incubus, or hug A fork-tongued adder. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 152 Belial, the dissolutest spirit that fell, The sensualest, and, after Asmodai, The fleshliest incubus. 1801 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XII. 421 Angels, Incubusses, Saints jostle in his song. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 7 The evil demons who trouble people in their sleep, the Incubi and Succubi. |
| attrib. a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. x. 501 He that allows himself in any sin..does..entertain an incubus dæmon. 1674 Govt. Tongue v. §2. 120 A sort of incubus brats, the infamous progenies of the lying spirit. |
2. A feeling of oppression during sleep, as of some heavy weight on the chest and stomach; the nightmare.
| 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 10 a, The disease called Incubus that is the Mare whych is a sycknesse or fantasye oppressinge a man in his slepe. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iv, Then death, like to a stifling incubus, Lie on my bosome. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. ii, Such as are troubled with Incubus, or witch ridden, as we call it, if they lie on their backs. 1753 J. Bond (title) Essay on the Incubus or Night-mare. a 1834 Lamb Hypochond. 30 Night-riding Incubi Troubling the fantasy. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. v. 472 The dire superstition which sits like an incubus upon them. |
3. A person or thing that weighs upon and oppresses like a nightmare.
| 1648–9 C. Walker Relat. & Observ. 17 Looke to it there⁓fore, ye state Incubi. 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. (1851) 369 The many years preaching of such an Incumbent, I may say, such an Incubus oft-times. 1653 Gauden Hierasp. To Rdr. 5 Worldly designes..are..the Incubusses of Conscience. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. x. 262 The church of England..fainting under the incubus of false doctrine, and a secular spirit. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi Pref. 10 The great fact that the Americans have rid themselves of the incubus of slavery. 1875 M{supc}Laren Serm. Ser. ii. vi. 123 Free from the incubus of evil habits. |
4. Entom. Name of a parasitic genus of hymenopterous insects.