Editing Bugbear (section)

==Etymology==
Its name is derived from the [[Middle English]] word "bugge" (a frightening thing), or perhaps the [[Old Welsh]] word ''bwg'' (evil spirit or [[goblin]]),<ref name=BriggsFairies>{{cite book| last=Briggs| first=Katherine M. |title=A Dictionary of Fairies| publisher=Penguin| location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex| year=1976| page=52| isbn=0-14-004753-0}}</ref> or [[Old Scots]] ''bogill'' (goblin), and cognates most probably English "bogeyman" and "bugaboo".

In [[medieval England]], the bugbear was depicted as a creepy bear that lurked in the woods to scare children. It was described in this manner in ''The Buggbears'',<ref name=BriggsFairies/> an adaptation, with additions, from [[Antonio Francesco Grazzini]]’s ''La Spiritata'' (‘The Possessed [Woman]’, 1561).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/pdf/emh68b2456693.pdf|title=Early Plays from the Italian|last=Bond|first=R. Warwick|website=warburg.sas.ac.uk|access-date=2019-01-07}}</ref>

In a modern context, the term ''bugbear'' may also mean [[pet peeve]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugbear|title=Definition of BUGBEAR|website=www.merriam-webster.com|date=13 July 2023 }}</ref>