somnambulate

American  

[som-nam-byuh-leyt, suhm-] / sɒmˈnæm byəˌleɪt, səm- /

verb (used without object)

somnambulated, somnambulating

1. to walk during sleep; engage in sleepwalking.

---

somnambulate British  

/ sɒmˈnæmbjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to walk while asleep

---

Other Word Forms

• somnambulance noun
• somnambulant adjective
• somnambulation noun
• somnambulator noun

Etymology

Origin of somnambulate

First recorded in 1825–35; somn(i-) ( def. ) + ambulate

Explanation

If you've been known to raid the cookie jar in the middle of the night, down a few cookies, then climb back into bed without remembering a thing, then you somnambulate — you walk in your sleep. When you somnambulate, your body's on autopilot. Your eyes are open and you look like you're awake, but you’re really sleeping. Somnambulate is a wonderful word, and you may recognize the Latin roots: somnus, "sleep," as in somniferous, “something putting you to sleep,” somnolent, “sleepy, or making you sleepy,” and Sominex, the brand name of a sleeping pill. Ambulare means "to walk," as in amble, “to stroll,” and "ambulance" the vehicle that gets you to the hospital.

Example Sentences

"I'm a somnambulist, only I somnambulate faster than most people."

From Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate by Turley, Charles

And so let him somnambulate yonder, till the two Queens, like winged Psyches, one after the other, manage to emerge from him.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 10 by Carlyle, Thomas