dreamtime

American  

[dreem-tahym] / ˈdrimˌtaɪm /

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) the ancient time of the creation of all things by sacred ancestors, whose spirits continue into the present, as conceived in Australian Aboriginal mythology.

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Dreamtime British  

/ ˈdriːmtaɪm /

noun

1. Also called: alchera.   alcheringa.  (in the mythology of Australian Aboriginal peoples) a mythical Golden Age of the past

2. informal any remote period, out of touch with the actualities of the present

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Etymology

Origin of dreamtime

First recorded in 1905–10; dream + time

Example Sentences

Peacocks, jellyfish, giant frogs and a mermaid inhabit a dreamtime of otherworldly balance in the gouaches and watercolors, all from the 1950s and ’60s, of this presentation.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022

It’s a meditation on the psychic effects of motherland dreamtime: “Darker the berry, sweeter the fruit/ Deeper the wounded, deeper the roots/ Nubian doused in brown, I’m loungin’ in it.

From Slate • Jul. 19, 2019

Nango's tale was more than an aboriginal "dreamtime" story.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 19, 2017

“Often my dreamtime recipes come out somewhat better than my waking recipes. My husband, John, thinks I should write a cookbook called ‘Dream On: Adventures in Sleepcooking.’

From Washington Post • Jul. 12, 2017

But is not Autumn dreamtime of the Spring?

From Path Flower and Other Verses by Dargan, Olive Tilford