succubus
/ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/ noun
Forms succubi succubuses
- noun (mediaeval folklore) A female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual intercourse, drawing energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death.
- noun A strumpet, whore or prostitute.
Synonyms
Etymology
Pseudo-Latinism, derived from alteration of Late Latin succuba (“strumpet, especially a mythological fiend in female form who has intercourse with men in their sleep”) based on incubus in Middle English, from Latin succubo (“to lie under”), from sub- (“under”) + cubare (“to lie down”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A demon or fiend; especially, a lascivious spirit supposed to have sexual intercourse with the men by night; a succuba. Cf. Incubus.
- noun The nightmare. See Nightmare, 2.
Etymology [See Succuba.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “succubus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details