cauchemar

Concepts

nightmare

incubus

bad dream

whangdoodle

Opposite of

rêve

Synonyms

mauvais rêve

incube

bête noire

terreurs nocturnes

Translations

pesadilla

incubo

Albtraum

pesadelo

Alptraum

nachtmerrie

malson

εφιάλτης

Alpdruck

Nachtmahr

kâbus

karabasan

incubus

Albdruck

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɔʃ.maʁ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French: cauchemare

Inherited from Old French: cauquemare

Cognate with Walloon: tchôcmwår

Cognate with English: mare

In summary

Inherited from Middle French cauchemare, from Old French cauquemare. By surface analysis, cauque + mar. Compare Walloon tchôcmwår.
* First element from Old French cauche, from the verb chauchier (“to press”), from Latin calcare (“I trample, tread on”), from calx (“heel”), of uncertain origin.
* Second element from Frankish *marā (“evil spirit”), from Proto-West Germanic *marā, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ (“nightmare, incubus”), from Proto-Indo-European *mor- (“malicious female spirit”), from *mer- (“to die”); related to the homograph English mare. More at mare.

Sentences

Toutefois , le jour attendu se transforme en cauchemar .

However, the expected day turns into a nightmare.