dreamtime
noun
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
American
[dreem-tahym]
/ ˈdrimˌtaɪm /
noun
Dreamtime
British
/ ˈdriːmtaɪm /
noun
-
Also called: alchera. alcheringa. (in the mythology of Australian Aboriginal peoples) a mythical Golden Age of the past
-
informal any remote period, out of touch with the actualities of the present
Etymology
Origin of dreamtime
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
She’s trying to make a point about downtime as dreamtime, a mode of passive-resistant creativity in an era of frantic, art fair-directed production.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2017
They inspired me to lean down to read the message etched below the statue that so many have come to associate with Duane’s lucid dreamtime story.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2016
But is not Autumn dreamtime of the Spring?
From Path Flower and Other Verses by Olive Tilford Dargan
In a statement, Dreamtime Dentistry said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our young patient, which occurred several hours after her completed dental procedure.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2025
To be honest, flying on a swan through Dreamtime is positively vanilla compared with some of the stuff that goes on here at 5am on Monday morning.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2020
Just look at Joe Hill and Angie Perry-Mansell, the couple behind Dreamtime Bakehouse and Grow Tours, Darwin-based businesses that have a flavor all their own.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2018
His Aboriginal Dreamtime paintings accrue from thousands of delicate concentric lines into undulant, intensely optical expressions that are topographical, abstract and beyond category.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2015
We can weave common myths such as the biblical creation story, the Dreamtime myths of Aboriginal Australians, and the nationalist myths of modern states.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
