oneironaut

English

WOTD – 8 June 2012

Etymology

From oneiro- +‎ -naut.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊˈnaɪɹənɔːt/, /əˈnaɪɹənɔːt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /oʊˈnaɪɹoʊnɔt/

Noun

oneironaut (plural oneironauts)

1. A person who explores dream worlds, usually associated with lucid dreaming.
   • 2004 July 18, Lawrence Osborne, "Inward Bound," New York Times (retrieved 7 June 2015):

     During a lucid dream it is possible for the dreamer (or “oneironaut,” as LaBerge puts it) to think reasonably clearly, remember the conditions of waking life and act voluntarily, all while remaining soundly, restfully asleep.

   • 2007, Mel Waldman, “Casablanca”, in This Is Not A Murder Mystery, ISBN 978-1-934209-75-2, page 47:

     Without special training, he was a natural “oneironaut” or “dream navigator.” From early childhood, he could control his dreams. He used to “wake up” within a dream. Fully lucid, he was aware he was dreaming.

Related terms

• oneironautics

Translations

explorer of dream worlds

• Finnish: unimatkailija
• French: onironaute m, f

• Portuguese: onironauta (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: ониронаут m (onironaut)

See also

• lucid dreaming
• Oneironautics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia