somnium Latin · revision 31180

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *swep-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsɔm.ni.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɔm.ni.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''somnium''' ''n'' (genitive somniī or somnī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Ennius has a genitive plural ''somnium''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*swopnjom|t=dream]], formed on the root of [[m|la|somnus|t=sleep]], and possibly inherited from [[ine-pro|*swópn-yo-m]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*swep-|t=to sleep]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan derives ⟨somnus⟩ from [[itc-pro|*swepno-|t=sleep]] and compares [[sa|स्वप्न्य|tr=svápnya-|t=dream, vision]], [[sga|súan|t=sleep]] and [[grc|ὕπνος|tr=húpnos|t=sleep]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus is its first author,^(Köbler 2010) with “the dream I dreamed last night has not turned out false for me” in the ''Miles gloriosus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a dream or vision, as in Plautus, Cicero's ''De divinatione'' and Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is an idle hope, fancy or delusion, as Terence's ''somnium!'', “nonsense!”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “dream”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a dream come true.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''somnium!'', “nonsense!”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero on dreams in ''De divinatione''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|dream]], [[m|en|vision]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # An idle fancy, [[m|en|daydream]], delusion;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''somnium!'', nonsense!^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[somniō]]

+ * [[somniātor]]

+ * [[īnsomnium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[somnus]]

+ * [[sopor]]

+ * [[sōpiō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein notes that ''somnium'' is the prose word for a dream and ''īnsomnium'' the poetic one, and that ''somnus'' is the usual word for sleep, ''sopor'' the poetic one.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}