AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question where does the word nightmare come from. What does the word "mare" mean?? And why is it associated with bad dreams?
Answer Gail:
The word "mare" has its origins in MANY forms in MANY languages, with "mare" being the version that finally -- after centuries -- ended up as the English word. It is feminine -- like "mare," for the female horse. Its original use [now obsolete] was in reference to a female spirit, related to a demon or incubus. When the spirit visited a person who was sleeping, the "night" was added. The first "nightmare" -- with all the variant spellings from the different languages and different time periods -- meant that the female spirit attempted to smother the person who was sleeping. You can see how it eventually evolved into its present meaning of "terrible dream."
I am pasting in below the references to the etymology from "The Oxford English Dictionary," the "bible" or best authority on the derivation of words and phrases in the English language.
Note that the earliest appearance in WRITTEN English was about the year 1300. It was most likely used in SPOKEN English long before it was ever written down.
Ted Nesbitt
[< NIGHT n. + MARE n.2 In forms < the genitive of NIGHT n. + MARE n.2 Cf. West Frisian nachtmerje, Middle Dutch nachtmre, nachtmre, nachtmrie (Dutch nachtmerrie, Dutch regional nachtmaar), Middle Low German nachtmr (German regional (Low German) Nachtmahr, Nachmaar), Middle High German nahtmare (German (arch.) Nachtmahr); some forms show alteration of the second element after corresponding forms of MARE n.1]
A. n. I. Simple uses.
1. a. A female spirit or monster supposed to settle on and produce a feeling of suffocation in a sleeping person or animal. Also fig. Now rare.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 228 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 306 e luere gostes..deriez men in heore slep..And ofte huy ouer-liggez [men], and men cleopiet e nit-mare
********
[Cognate with Middle Dutch m re (Dutch regional mare; Old French (Picardy) mare French -mar in cauchemar nightmare; Anglo-Norman mare (in an isolated attestation) is, however, prob. < English), Old Saxon m ra (Middle Low German m r, m re), Old High German mara (Middle High German mar, mare German (regional) Mahr), Old Icelandic mara (Icelandic mara), Old Swedish mara (Swedish mara), Old Danish marę (Danish mare) < a Germanic base which is cognate with the first element of Old Irish morrigain queen of the elves (and probably also the first element of the Gaulish personal name Moritasgus in Caesar De Bello Gallico 5. 54), and with the second element of Russian kikimora nocturnal apparition, female house-spirit, Polish zmora (earlier mora) nightmare, Czech m ra nightmare, moth, Bulgarian mora nightmare.
