dream

Pronunciation

• IPA: /driːm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dreem, drem,^[2][3] corresponding in sense to Old Norse draumr, Old Frisian drām, Old Saxon drōm, Dutch droom and Old High German troum (German Traum),^[4][5][3] from Proto-Germanic *draumaz,^[3] perhaps earlier “deception, illusion, phantom”,^[4] related to German trügen “to deceive” and Old Norse draugr “ghost”,^[4][3] with possible cognates in Sanskrit druh- “to seek to harm” and Avestan druj- “lie, deceit”.^[4][3] In form it is identical with drēam (“joy, mirth, music”),^[4][5][2] but much study has failed to prove that this is the source of the sleeping vision:^[4] the sense may have changed, influenced by Old Norse draumr,^[3][2] or “vision” may have been an unrecorded secondary sense in Old English,^[4][3] or the word may have been borrowed from early Scandinavian.^[6] The verb is from the noun.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A train of images passing through the mind in sleep: about 1250, in The Story of Genesis and Exodus,^[3][7] the mid-13th century;^[4] the verb, “to have dreams”, is also from about 1250.^[7][4] Old English drēam, “joy, music”, is from before 830.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The Old English verb drēman meant “to sing, rejoice, make music” and was obsolete by about 1300.^[4][7] The transitive verb, “to see in a dream”, is from about 1300,^[4] and “to think idly or fancifully” from the late 14th century.^[4][7] A daydream or reverie indulged in while awake is a dream from 1581,^[7] something of dreamlike beauty from 1888,^[7] and an ideal or aspiration, as in the American dream, from 1931.^[7] Johnson (1755) records Meric Casaubon's derivation from Greek, “the comedy of life”, “with more ingenuity than truth”.^[8] Dream up is by 1941,^[4] like a dream, “effortlessly”, from 1949,^[7] and in your dreams from the 1970s in the United States.^[6] Oxford is the city of dreaming spires after Matthew Arnold's poem Thyrsis (1866).^[6]

Timeline

• before 830 – Old English drēam, joy.^[7]
• c. 1250 – a dream in sleep; verb, to dream.^[3][7]
• c. 1300 – verb, to see in a dream.^[4]
• late 14th century – to imagine idly.^[4]
• 1581 – a daydream.^[7]
• 1888 – something of dreamlike beauty.^[7]
• 1931 – an aspiration.^[7]
• 1941 – dream up.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A series of images, thoughts and feelings passing through the mind during sleep.
2. A daydream; a state of absent-mindedness.
3. A cherished hope or ambition.
4. (informal) Something wonderful or excellent: the car is a dream to drive.

Adjective

1. Ideal; perfect: a dream house.

Verb

1. To have dreams while asleep.
2. To daydream; to indulge in fantasies.
3. To hope or long for something.
4. To consider possible: I wouldn't dream of it.

Word family

• dreamful
• dreamfully
• dreamfulness
• dreamless
• dreamlessly
• dreamlessness
• dreamlike
• dreamingly

Related words

• dreamy
• daydream
• dreamer

Usage notes

Both dreamed and dreamt are used for the past tense and past participle.^[1][9] In Scots a dream-bit was a piece of wedding cake to put under one's pillow and dream on.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ 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)