Reconstruction:Old English/nihtmare

This Old English entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Old English

Alternative forms

  • *næhtmare, *neahtmare, *niehtmare, *nyhtmare, *nehtmare

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *nahtmarā. Equivalent to niht +‎ mare.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnixtˌmɑ.re/, [ˈniçtˌmɑ.re]

Noun

*nihtmare f

  1. mare (evil spirit thought to torment people in their sleep)
  2. nightmare

Declension

Weak feminine (n-stem):

singular plural
nominative nihtmare nihtmaran
accusative nihtmaran nihtmaran
genitive nihtmaran nihtmarena
dative nihtmaran nihtmarum

Descendants

  • Middle English: night-mare, nytmare, niȝt-mare, niȝthe-mare
    • English: nightmare
    • Scots: nichtmare, nichtmeer
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