Etymograph

English

nightmare

Nightmare comes from Middle English nyghtmare ‘an evil spirit attacking men or horses at night’, from Old English *nihtmare ‘mare’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mor-‘malicious female spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*marǭ‘evil (female) spirit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*marā‘evil spirit, nightmare’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*nahtmarāreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*nihtmare‘mare’reconstructed
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyghtmare‘an evil spirit attacking men or horses at night’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1660nightmare

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mor-‘malicious female spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*marǭ‘evil (female) spirit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*marā‘evil spirit, nightmare’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*nahtmarāreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*nihtmare‘mare’reconstructed
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nyghtmare‘an evil spirit attacking men or horses at night’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1660nightmare

Earliest quotation: 1660, a Rural Pen pseudonym; Robert Wild, London: […]: “THe day is broke! Melpomene, be gone; / Hag…”

A compound of night + mare ‘evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping…’

Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts ‘night’

Proto-Germanic *nahts ‘night’

Proto-West Germanic *naht ‘night’

Old English niht ‘night’

Middle English nighte

English night

Proto-Indo-European *márkos ‘horse’

…

Proto-Germanic *marhijō ‘female horse’

Proto-West Germanic *marhijā ‘mare, female horse’

Old English mīere ‘female horse, mare’

Middle English mare ‘a horse’

English mare

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

remember, murder, march, marine, mere, mortality, mortal, maritime, mortar, marsh, moor, muller, morbid, mort, morn, ambrosia, moribund, cormorant, marinate, marinara, amaranth, maar, 62 more

through Proto-Germanic *marǭ ‘evil (female) spirit’

mara, 1 more

Today it means

noun A very unpleasant or frightening dream.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / nightmare

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