"fear of shadows," 1977, from scio-, Latinized combining form of Greek skia "shade, shadow" (see Ascians) + -phobia. Related: sciophobe; sciophobic.
Entries linking to sciophobia
Ascians n.
inhabitants of the torrid zone, 1630s, from Medieval Latin Ascii, from Greek askioi, from a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + skia "shade, shadow," which Beekes derives from PIE *skhieh- "shadow" (source also of Sanskrit chaya "shadow," also "image;" Persian saya "shadow," Albanian hie "shadow"). So called because they "haue the Sunne twice euery yeere in their zenith, and then they make no shaddowes at all" [Nathanael Carpenter, "Geographie Delineated forth in Two Bookes," 1635].
-phobia
word-forming element meaning "excessive or irrational fear, horror, or aversion," from Latin -phobia and directly from Greek -phobia "panic fear of," from phobos "fear" (see phobia). In widespread popular use with native words from c. 1800. In psychology, "an abnormal or irrational fear." Related: -phobic.