siesta

[see-es-tuh]

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noun

a midday or afternoon rest or nap, especially as taken in Spain and Latin America.

Origin of siesta

1645–55; < Spanish < Latin sexta (hōra) the sixth (hour), midday

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for siesta

nod, catnap, doze, rest, catch, sleep, snooze, rack, drowse, relax

Examples from the Web for siesta

Contemporary Examples of siesta

How can anyone go home for a three-course meal and a siesta in the midst of peak trading?
Discovering The Charms Of La France Profonde
Emma Woolf
June 9, 2014

Historical Examples of siesta

"They're going into the Saint's Pool to have a siesta," said Vere.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
I'm afraid to speak to the servants—they are making the siesta.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
I went to keep her company by her bedside after I had taken my siesta.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Most of our party slept the siesta, and at about four oʼclock we called at the Palace.
The Philippine Islands
John Foreman
We happened to reach it when the prisoners were having a siesta.
A Journey Through France in War Time
Joseph G. Butler, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for siesta

siesta

noun

a rest or nap, usually taken in the early afternoon, as in hot countries

Word Origin for siesta

C17: from Spanish, from Latin sexta hōra the sixth hour, that is, noon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for siesta

"mid-day nap," 1650s, from Spanish siesta, from Latin sexta (hora) "sixth (hour)," the noon of the Roman day (coming six hours after sunrise), from sexta, fem. of sextus "sixth" (see Sextus).