Curious Word Origin – “Nightmare”
You might think a nightmare is simply a bad dream, but the word has a much darker and spookier origin. In Old English, the term mare didn’t refer to a female horse—instead, it described a mythological demon or evil spirit.
This mare was believed to sit on a sleeping person’s chest, causing feelings of suffocation, fear, and dread.
The experience was so vivid and terrifying that people believed it was the result of a supernatural attack during
the night—hence, a night-mare.
Over time, as science replaced superstition and our understanding of sleep evolved, the word nightmare shifted to mean a frightening or disturbing dream.
While we now know that bad dreams are often caused by stress, anxiety, or even something as simple as a late-night snack, the word still carries echoes of ancient folklore.
Hopefully, you don’t experience nightmares very often—but if you do, at least now you know you can blame it on something far less creepy than a goblin sitting on your chest.
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