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incubus

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incubus


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Incubus  \In"cu*bus\,  n.;  pl  E.  {Incubuses},  L.  {Incubi}.  [L., 
  the  nightmare.  Cf  {Incubate}.] 
  1.  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.  (Med.)  The  nightmare.  See  {Nightmare}. 
 
  Such  as  are  troubled  with  incubus,  or  witch-ridden, 
  as  we  call  it  --Burton. 
 
  3.  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  incubus 
  n  1:  a  male  demon  believed  to  lie  on  sleeping  persons  and  to  have 
  sexual  intercourse  with  sleeping  women 
  2:  a  situation  resembling  a  terrifying  dream  [syn:  {nightmare}] 
  3:  someone  who  depresses  or  worries  others 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  INCUBUS,  n.  One  of  a  race  of  highly  improper  demons  who  though 
  probably  not  wholly  extinct,  may  be  said  to  have  seen  their  best 
  nights.  For  a  complete  account  of  _incubi_  and  _succubi_,  including 
  _incubae_  and  _succubae_,  see  the  _Liber  Demonorum_  of  Protassus 
  (Paris,  1328),  which  contains  much  curious  information  that  would  be 
  out  of  place  in  a  dictionary  intended  as  a  text-book  for  the  public 
  schools. 
  Victor  Hugo  relates  that  in  the  Channel  Islands  Satan  himself  -- 
  tempted  more  than  elsewhere  by  the  beauty  of  the  women,  doubtless  -- 
  sometimes  plays  at  _incubus_,  greatly  to  the  inconvenience  and  alarm 
  of  the  good  dames  who  wish  to  be  loyal  to  their  marriage  vows, 
  generally  speaking.  A  certain  lady  applied  to  the  parish  priest  to 
  learn  how  they  might  in  the  dark,  distinguish  the  hardy  intruder  from 
  their  husbands.  The  holy  man  said  they  must  feel  his  brown  for  horns; 
  but  Hugo  is  ungallant  enough  to  hint  a  doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  the 
  test. 
 
 




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