INCUBUS

n.

3 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


1.
n.

A demon; a fiend; a lascivious spirit, supposed to have sexual intercourse with women by night. Tylor. The devils who appeared in the female form were generally called succubi; those who appeared like men incubi, though this distinction was not always preserved. Lecky.

2.
n.

The nightmare. See Nightmare. Such as are troubled with incubus, or witch-ridden, as we call it. Burton.

3.
n.

Any oppressive encumbrance or burden; anything that prevents the free use of the faculties. Debt and usury is the incubus which weighs most heavily on the agricultural resources of Turkey. J. L. Farley.


← INCUBOUS I — all words INCULCATE →