somnolent

English

WOTD – 19 June 2007

Etymology

First attested in 1615. Borrowed from French somnolent, from Old French sompnolent, from Latin somnolentus, from somnus (sleep).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒmnələnt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈsɑːmnələnt/
  • (file)

Adjective

somnolent (comparative more somnolent, superlative most somnolent)

  1. Drowsy or sleepy.
    • 1966, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 4, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York: Bantam Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 60:
      One minute she was gazing at a mockup of a space capsule, safely surrounded by old, somnolent men; []
    • 1990 September 25, Michiko Kakutani, “Just 30 Years Later, Updike Has a Quartet”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
      [] ; and in chronicling the passing parade of Harry's life, the books have also created a Kodachrome-sharp picture of American life - the psychic ups and downs, enthusiasms and reversals experienced by this nation as it moved from the somnolent 50's through the upheavals of the 60's and 70's into the uncertainties of the 80's.
    • 1992 April 1, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):
      My tiger is deep
      in somnolent sleep
      dreaming of chases remembered!
      His keen eyes are glinting!
      He dreams of a sprinting
      sambar who'll soon be dismembered!
  2. (dated) Causing literal or figurative sleepiness.
    Synonyms: soporific; see also Thesaurus:soporific
    • 1999, Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon:
      As she reached toward the last few fiddleheads growing on the second hummock, her hand froze. She heard the somnolent buzzing of flies again.

Translations

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin somnolentus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

somnolent (feminine somnolenta, masculine plural somnolents, feminine plural somnolentes)

  1. sleepy, drowsy

Further reading

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French sompnolent, borrowed from Latin somnolentus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɔm.nɔ.lɑ̃/

Adjective

somnolent (feminine somnolente, masculine plural somnolents, feminine plural somnolentes)

  1. drowsy, sleepy

Verb

somnolent

  1. third-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of somnoler

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French somnolent, from Latin somnolentus.

Adjective

somnolent m or n (feminine singular somnolentă, masculine plural somnolenți, feminine and neuter plural somnolente)

  1. sleepy

Declension

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