Dictionary

succubus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsʌk.jə.bəs/ (General-American, UK)
• /ˈsʌk.jʊ.bəs/ (General-American, UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

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”).

Meanings

1. (qualifier: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.
   • 1977 Italo Calvino, The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Part 2, Chapter 5, 1969. Translated from Italian by William Weaver. When the Sabbath is caught by the first ray of the rising sun, all the witches and the vampires, incubi and succubi, take flight, some transforming themselves into noctules, some into other bats, some into still other species of Chiroptera.
2. A strumpet, whore or prostitute.

Forms

Coordinates

incubus

Deriveds

succubine · succubitch · succubuslike

Relateds

succubous · incubus

Translations (28)

de Sukkubus (female demon) · fr succube (female demon) · bg суку́бус (female demon) · ca súcube (female demon) · es súcubo (female demon) · it succubo (female demon) · pt súcubo (female demon) · bg суку́ба (female demon) · sv succubus (female demon) · ja サキュバス (female demon) · sv succuba (female demon) · ja 夢魔 (female demon) · ca súcub (female demon) · ro sucub (female demon) · la succuba (female demon) · fi succubus (female demon) · sux 𒆤𒆤𒄄𒀀 (female demon) · mr सक्युबस (female demon) · cmn 魅魔 (female demon) · ru сукку́бус (female demon) · pl sukub (female demon) · da mare (female demon) · ru су̀кку́б (female demon) · el σούκουμπους (female demon) · fi naispuolinen demoni (female demon) · eo sukubo (female demon) · bg суку́б (female demon) · pl sukkub (female demon)