英语词汇nightmare的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

nightmare. Bad dreams in Roman times were attributed to demons called the incubus and succubus. The incubus (from the Latin incubare, “to lie on,” which also gives us the word in- cubate) was said to consort with women in their sleep. This ex- plained the heaviness or suffocation a woman might feel during a bad dream. The superstition was so widely believed in the Middle Ages that any woman who gave birth to a “witch” was supposed to have been visited by a male demon. The female counterpart of the incubus was the succubus (from the Latin suc or sub, “under,” and cubare “to lie”), who slid beneath a male sleeper. In the Dark Ages, there were laws against these demons whose existence was recognized by both church and state. Soon they became known as the “night hag,” “the riding of the witches,” and the nightmare as well. The nightmare, how- ever, had nothing to do with a female horse, taking its name from night, plus the Anglo-Saxon mare, meaning “incubus.” Nightmare eventually replaced the older Latin word incubus, which is now used to describe an oppressive load. Although the word wasn’t born from a horse, it caught the popular imagina- tion because of the graphic picture it suggested of a terrible horse bearing sleepers off on a frightening ride.

词汇	nightmare
词源	nightmare. Bad dreams in Roman times were attributed to demons called the incubus and succubus. The incubus (from the Latin incubare, “to lie on,” which also gives us the word in- cubate) was said to consort with women in their sleep. This ex- plained the heaviness or suffocation a woman might feel during a bad dream. The superstition was so widely believed in the Middle Ages that any woman who gave birth to a “witch” was supposed to have been visited by a male demon. The female counterpart of the incubus was the succubus (from the Latin suc or sub, “under,” and cubare “to lie”), who slid beneath a male sleeper. In the Dark Ages, there were laws against these demons whose existence was recognized by both church and state. Soon they became known as the “night hag,” “the riding of the witches,” and the nightmare as well. The nightmare, how- ever, had nothing to do with a female horse, taking its name from night, plus the Anglo-Saxon mare, meaning “incubus.” Nightmare eventually replaced the older Latin word incubus, which is now used to describe an oppressive load. Although the word wasn’t born from a horse, it caught the popular imagina- tion because of the graphic picture it suggested of a terrible horse bearing sleepers off on a frightening ride.
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