different between incubus vs banshee

English

Etymology

From Late Latin incubus, from Latin incub? (“nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper”), from incub?re (“to lie upon, to hatch”), from in- (“on”) + cub?re (“to lie down”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /???.kj?.b?s/, /??n.kj?.b?s/
• Homophone: incubous

Noun

incubus (plural incubi or incubuses)

1. (mediaeval folklore) An evil spirit supposed to oppress people while asleep, especially to have sex with women as they sleep.

   Antonym: succubus

   Hypernyms: evil spirit, spirit

2. A feeling of oppression during sleep, sleep paralysis; night terrors, a nightmare.

   Synonym: nightmare

   • , vol. I, New York 2001, p.249:

     it increaseth fearful dreams, incubus, night-walking, crying out, and much unquietness  […] .

3. (by extension) Any oppressive thing or person; a burden.
   • August 1935, Clark Ashton Smith, Weird Tales, "The Treader of the Dust":

     Again he felt the impulse of flight: but his body was a dry dead incubus that refused to obey his volition.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 132-3:

     Notions of civic virtue were at that moment changing, in ways which would make of Louis's alleged vices an incubus on the back of the monarchy.

4. (entomology) One of various of parasitic insects, especially subfamily Aphidiinae.

Translations

See also

• incubous
• succubus

Further reading

• incubus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

From Late Latin incubus, from Latin incubo (“nightmare, one who lies down on the sleeper”), from incubare (“to lie upon, to hatch”).

Noun

incubus m (plural incubussen or incubi, diminutive incubusje n)

1. An incubus, evil spirit
2. A nightmare, horrible dream
3. A burden, obsession, yoke

Synonyms

• (nightmare) nachtmerrie

See also

• succubus m

Latin

Etymology

From incub?¹ (“I lie upon”, “I brood over”, “I am a burden to”), perhaps via an alteration of the Classical incub?² (“incubus”, “nightmare”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?in.ku.bus/, [???k?b?s?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?in.ku.bus/, [?i?kubus]

Noun

incubus m (genitive incub?); second declension

1. (Late Latin) the nightmare, incubus
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Augustine of Hippo to this entry?)
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Isidore of Seville to this entry?)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Synonyms

• (nightmare, incubus): incubitor, incub?

Descendants

• Dutch: incubus
• English: incubus
• French: incube
• German: Incubus
• Italian: incubo
• Portuguese: íncubo
• Russian: ?????? (inkúb)
• Spanish: incubo

References

• inc?bus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• INCUBI in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• inc?bus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette, page 801/1
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) , “incubo (genet. -onis), incubus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 524/2

English

Alternative forms

• banshie (dated)
• benshee (obsolete)

Etymology

From Irish bean sí, from Old Irish ben síde (literally “woman of the fairy mound”). The term banshee entered English in 1771.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæn??i?/, /?bæn?i?/

Noun

banshee (plural banshees)

1. (Irish folklore) A female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death.
2. (derogatory) A noisy or ill-tempered woman.

Usage notes

• A banshee was originally merely a fairy woman who sang a caoineadh (lament) for recently-deceased members of certain families. Translations of Irish works into English made a distinction between the banshee and other fairy folk that the original language and original stories do not seem to have, but from which sprung the current image of the banshee.

Descendants

Translations

See also

• sidhe

Anagrams

• has-been, shabeen, shebean

Portuguese

Noun

banshee f (plural banshees)

1. (Irish folklore) banshee (a female spirit who warns of impending death)