sleep English · revision 3341

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *slēpaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sliːp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|slepen]], [[inh|ang|slǣpan|t=to be or fall asleep; to lie dormant]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*slēpaną|alt=*slēpanan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Saxon slāpan, Dutch [[m|nl|slapen]], German [[m|de|schlafen]] and Gothic slēpan.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) It is from [[ine-pro|*sleb-|t=to be weak, sleep]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps connected with *sleg- “to be slack”, the root of [[slack]].^(Etymonline) Barnhart compares Lithuanian slōbti “to become weak” and Old Church Slavonic slabŭ “weak”,^(Barnhart 1988) and Merriam-Webster Latin [[m|la|lābī|t=to slip, slide]].^(MWU 2024) The noun is Old English slǣp, from the same root.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Neither the verb nor the noun has a cognate in the Scandinavian languages.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun, Old English slǣp: about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, slēpan: before 830.^(Barnhart 1988) Word Origins says the word is first recorded around AD 800.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To rest in the grave” is already Old English,^(Etymonline) as is the figurative noun “the repose of death”.^(Etymonline) ''Sleep with'', “to have sex with”, was also used by the Anglo-Saxons.^(Cresswell 2021) Of a limb, “to be numb”, it is from late Old English.^(Etymonline) A period of sleep is from about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and Sleep is personified from the late 14th century, after Latin Somnus and Greek Hypnos.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Chaucer advised in ''Troilus and Criseyde'' that “it is not good a sleeping hound to wake”, and the modern ''let sleeping dogs lie'' is first in Scott's ''Redgauntlet'' (1824).^(Cresswell 2021) ''Sleep-walker'' is from 1747,^(Etymonline) ''sleeping car'' from 1839 and ''sleeping bag'' from 1850.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Put to sleep'', to kill a pet painlessly, is from 1884.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – the noun, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 830 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – a period of sleep.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – Sleep personified.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1747 – ''sleep-walker''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1824 – ''let sleeping dogs lie''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1839 – ''sleeping car''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1884 – ''put to sleep''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A natural, regular state of rest in which consciousness is suspended.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A period of sleeping.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A state like sleep, such as death or [[hibernation]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' Matter that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To be in the state of sleep.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To be inactive, dormant or dead.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To have room for sleeping: ''the cabin sleeps four''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To have sex with: ''sleep with''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sleeplike]]

+ * [[sleepful]]

+ * [[outsleep]]

+ * [[oversleep]]

+ * [[undersleep]]

+ * [[sleepwalk]]

+ * [[sleeper]]

+ * [[asleep]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sleepy]]

+ * [[slack]]

+ * [[lapse]]

+ * [[slumber]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}