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/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

somnolent (comparative more somnolent, superlative most somnolent)

1. Drowsy or sleepy.
   • 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 4, in The Crying of Lot 49, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, 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^[1], →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

drowsy

• Bulgarian: сънлив (bg) (sǎnliv)
• Catalan: somnolent
• Dutch: slaperig (nl)
• Finnish: uninen (fi), somnolentti
• French: somnolent (fr)
• Georgian: ძილიანი (ʒiliani), მთვლემარე (mtvlemare), მძინარე (mʒinare)
• German: schläfrig (de)
• Greek: νυσταγμένος (el) (nystagménos), γλαρωμένος (el) (glaroménos), νυσταλέος (el) (nystaléos), υπναλέος (el) (ypnaléos)
• Italian: sonnolento (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: xewto (ku)

• Latin: somnolentus, soporus
• Maori: momoe
• Polish: senny (pl)
• Portuguese: sonolento (pt)
• Russian: засыпа́ющий (ru) (zasypájuščij), дре́млющий (ru) (drémljuščij), со́нный (ru) (sónnyj)
• Spanish: somnoliento (es)
• Ukrainian: сонний m (sonnyj), дрімливий m (drimlyvyj), сонливий m (sonlyvyj)

soporific — see soporific

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin somnolentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [sum.nuˈlen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [som.noˈlent]

Adjective

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

1. sleepy, drowsy

Related terms

• somni
• somnolència
• son

Further reading

• “somnolent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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

Related terms

• somnolence

Verb

somnolent

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

Further reading

• “somnolent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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

Declension of somnolent

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	somnolent		somnolentă	somnolenți	somnolente
	definite	somnolentul		somnolenta	somnolenții	somnolentele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	somnolent		somnolente	somnolenți	somnolente
	definite	somnolentului		somnolentei	somnolenților	somnolentelor