Etymologically
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asleep

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈsliːp/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English aslepe, o slepe,[2][3] from Old English on slǣpe “in sleep”,[2][3] formed from English a- + sleep.[2][4][5] The parallel form on sleep continued until about 1550.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a state of sleep: 1154 in the OED, about 1200 in Etymonline.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Into a state of sleep, as in to fall asleep, is from before 1300.[6] In religious writing it was used for “dead” from the late 13th century, 1297 in the OED.[2][6] Inattentive or off guard is from the mid-14th century, which led to asleep at the switch (1906).[2] Of limbs, numb from stopped circulation, is from the late 14th century, 1398 in the OED.[2][6] Inactive or dormant in a wider sense is from 1590.[6] In East Anglia, sails are asleep when steadily filled with wind, and in Yorkshire and Cornwall a spinning top is asleep when it turns too fast to see.[7]

Timeline

  • 1154 – sleeping.[6]
  • 1297 – dead.[6]
  • a1300 – to fall asleep.[6]
  • mid-14th century – off guard.[2]
  • 1398 – of a limb, numb.[6]
  • 1590 – dormant.[6]
  • 1906 – asleep at the switch.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Sleeping.
  2. Inactive or not alert.
  3. Of a limb, numb.
  4. (euphemistic) Dead.

Adverb

  1. Into sleep: to fall asleep.

Word family

  • half-asleep

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)