succubus (n.)
"demon fabled to have sexual intercourse with humans in their sleep," late 14c., an alteration of Late Latin succuba "strumpet," also applied to a fiend (generally in female form) having sexual connection with men in their sleep. This is from succubare "to lie under," from assimilated form of sub "under" (see sub-) + cubare "to lie down" (see cubicle).
The altered form in English appears to be after incubus, and it gives a Latin masculine form to a word for a demon generally felt as female. Succuba is attested in English in this sense from 1580s. Related: Succubine (adj.); succubate (v.) "have carnal knowledge of a man" (as a succuba), from the Latin past participle. The transferred sense of succuba in classical Latin was "a supplanter, a rival."
Trends of succubus
updated on December 04, 2023
Dictionary entries near succubus
succinctly
succinite
succor
succotash
succour
succubus
succulence
succulent
succumb
such
suck