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dormire

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Pronunciation

  • /dorˈmi.re/[1]

Forms

dormire (first-person singular present dòrmo, first-person singular past historic dormìi, past participle dormìto, auxiliary avére)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dormīre (“to sleep”).[2][3][4][1] The verb lives on in every Romance language, as French dormir, Occitan dormir, Catalan dormir, Spanish dormir, Portuguese dormir, Sardinian dormire and Romanian durmi, and DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance ⟨*/ˈdɔrm-i-/⟩.[3][5][6] Meyer-Lübke noted a form with the /r/ moved, ⟨dromir⟩, in northern Italian, Rhaeto-Romance, French, Occitan and Portuguese dialects.[5]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Italic *dormiō, Proto-Indo-European *dr̥m-yé-ti, built on the root Proto-Indo-European *drem- (“to sleep”).[1] Nocentini compares Old Church Slavonic дрѣмати (drěmati, “to doze”) and, formed differently, Ancient Greek δαρθάνω (darthánō, “to sleep”) and Sanskrit द्राति (drā́ti, “sleeps”).[3][7] Devoto thought the root named sleep as the opposite of waking rather than as a lasting state, unlike the root of sonno.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century.[9] DELI's first Tuscan-literary record is Iacopo d'Aquino, early in the 13th century, with the sense “to rest by sleeping”.[2] Guittone d'Arezzo wrote: “Piò soave dorme in vile e picciul letto, non face segnore en grande e caro suo” (one sleeps more sweetly in a poor small bed than a lord in his great costly one).[10]

Semantic evolution

Figurative senses came early: “to lie dead” in Bono Giamboni before 1292, “to be idle, inactive” in Iacopone before 1306, and “to be silent and still” of places in Teofilo Folengo before 1544.[2] The transitive use with an internal object (dormire un sonno tranquillo) is in Petrarch.[2][4] Old Italian already used dormire con for sexual relations.[9]

Several set phrases have a history.[2][11] Dormire fra due guanciali, to have nothing to fear, matches the Latin in aurem utramvis dormire, to sleep on either ear.[2] Dormire della grossa, to sleep soundly, refers to the third sleep of silkworms.[11] The proverb chi dorme non piglia pesci (he who sleeps catches no fish) warns the idle.[12][13] Among the derivatives, dormiveglia “half-sleep” is a compound of the imperatives dormi and veglia (1745), and dormizione, the Dormition of Mary, is the learned Latin dormitio.[2][3][7]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur use the verb.[9]
  • Early 13th century – Iacopo d'Aquino uses it for sleeping.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for lying dead.[2]
  • Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it for being idle.[2]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch uses it transitively.[2]
  • 1745 – Dormiveglia is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sleep: Stanotte ho dormito pochissimo.[4][12][14]
  2. dormire con qualcuno: to share a bed or room with someone, (euphemistic) to have sex with someone.[4][12][11]
  3. (figurative) To be idle, slow or inattentive: In quell'ufficio non si muove nessuno, dormono tutti.[4][14][13]
  4. (figurative) To have no worries, especially in dormire tranquillo.[4][11]
  5. (figurative, literary) To lie dead, to rest in the grave.[4][12][13]
  6. (figurative) Of a place, to be still and silent; of a matter, to be set aside and forgotten: La pratica dorme da mesi in un cassetto.[4][14][13]
  7. (transitive) With an internal object: dormire sonni tranquilli, dormire il sonno del giusto, to sleep the sleep of the just.[4][13]

Noun

  1. il dormire: sleep, sleeping.[4][9]

Word family

  • dormiente
  • dormiglione
  • dormita
  • dormitorio
  • dormiveglia
  • dormicchiare
  • dormizione
  • addormentare

Usage notes

Common phrases include dormire come un ghiro (to sleep like a dormouse, very soundly), dormire in piedi (to be dropping with sleep), dormire a occhi aperti and dormirci sopra (to sleep on a decision).[4][12][11] The verb takes avere and has the present dormo, with an open /ɔ/.[12][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1385
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 153
  9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 967
  11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse