1855, "dread of sleep; nightmare," from hypno- "sleep" -phobia "fear." Earlier in German. Related: Hypnophobic.
Entries linking to hypnophobia
hypno-
word-forming element meaning "sleep," from Greek hypnos "sleep," from PIE *supno-, suffixed form of root *swep- "to sleep."
-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.