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Middle English
- According to the Oxford English Dictionary, nightmare derives from the Middle English (from the period 1150 to 1500) word ‘mare’, which meant a ‘female evil spirit thought to lie upon and suffocate sleepers’.
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Feb 24, 2022 · All this is probably from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm" (also "to die" and forming words referring to death and to beings subject to death). The word in English now survives only in nightmare (q.v.). In a very early Anglo-Saxon text Latin echo is glossed with wudumer "*woodmare." night (n.)
Apr 22, 2018 · According to the Oxford English Dictionary, nightmare derives from the Middle English (from the period 1150 to 1500) word ‘mare’, which meant a ‘female evil spirit thought to lie upon and suffocate sleepers’.
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May 3, 2022 · As the etymology of the name itself suggests, “nightmare” is to be considered as a compound noun formed from two words: “night”, which in this case means “nocturnal”, and “mare” a term used to indicate a particular category of malignant supernatural entities.
/ˈnaɪtˌmɛ (ə)r/ NIGHT-mair. See pronunciation. Where does the word nightmare come from? Earliest known use. Middle English. The earliest known use of the word nightmare is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for nightmare is from around 1300, in St. Michael. nightmare is formed within English, by compounding.
The etymology of the word “nightmare” can be traced back to the Old English word “mare,” meaning a female evil spirit or demon. It has evolved over time through various ancient languages, including Middle English, Old High German, and Old Norse, before reaching its current form in modern English.
Not surprising: That's where the word "nightmare" comes from. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first used of "nightmare" in English to around 1300, as "a female spirit or monster supposed to settle on and produce a feeling of suffocation in a sleeping person or animal."
The word nightmare is derived from the Old English mare, a mythological demon or goblin who torments others with frightening dreams. The term has no connection with the Modern English word for a female horse. [5] The word nightmare is cognate with the Dutch term nachtmerrie and German Nachtmahr (dated).
