cauchemar

English

Etymology

French cauchemar

Noun

cauchemar (plural cauchemars)

  1. (folklore) A demon or witch in French folklore that drains a sleeping person's energy by night.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French cauchemare, from Old French cauquemare. By surface analysis, cauque + mar. Compare Walloon tchôcmwår.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɔʃ.maʁ/, /koʃ.maʁ/[1]
  • (file)
  • Homophone: cauchemars
  • Hyphenation: cauche‧mar

Noun

cauchemar m (plural cauchemars)

  1. nightmare
    Antonym: rêve
    Je n’ai pas pu dormir hier soir parce que j’ai fait trop de cauchemars.
    I couldn't sleep last night because I had too many nightmares.
    C’était un rêve ou un cauchemar?
    Was it a dream or a nightmare?
    Il a remué toute la nuit, je crois qu’il a fait des cauchemars.
    He was tossing and turning all night, I think [that] he had nightmares.
    J’ai eu un accident ce matin! Je vais bien mais ça a été un vrai cauchemar!
    I had an accident this morning! I'm okay but it was a true nightmare!

Usage notes

Cauchemar is often used with the transitive verb faire [to do/to make] instead of the verb avoir [to have]. Faire un cauchemar = to have a nightmare.

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. cauchemar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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