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Meaning & History
Means "nightmare" in Greek; said to literally mean "he who jumps upon" due to its association with the verb ἐφάλλομαι (ephallomai) "to jump at, to throw oneself onto somebody" (itself from ἐπι- (epi-) "on, upon" and ἅλλομαι (hallomai) "to leap, to jump"), but possibly related to ἠπίαλος (epialos) meaning "ague, fever". In Greek mythology this is the name of a giant who is one of the Aloidae, a son of Aloeus and brother of Otus. Ephialtes also appears in Dante's Inferno (14th century), where he is chained in a great pit that separates the eighth and ninth circles of Hell.