somnambulism

American  

[som-nam-byuh-liz-uhm, suhm-] / sɒmˈnæm byəˌlɪz əm, səm- /

noun

1. sleepwalking.

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somnambulism British  

/ sɒmˈnæmbjʊˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. Also called: noctambulism.  a condition that is characterized by walking while asleep or in a hypnotic trance

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Other Word Forms

• somnambulist noun
• somnambulistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of somnambulism

First recorded in 1790–1800; from French somnambulisme, from New Latin somnambulismus, equivalent to somn(us) “sleep” + ambul(āre) “to walk” + -ismus -ism

Example Sentences

But we must be careful not to confuse this disorder with somnambulism.

From Scientific American

Or are they symptoms of either sleep paralysis — the mind awake, but the body asleep — or its converse: somnambulism, or sleepwalking?

From Washington Post

As a realist narrator, he reports first-hand the nightmare of the surreal somnambulism outbreak.

From Los Angeles Times

This brutal satirical novel takes place on a single night, when a plague of somnambulism unleashes a host of suppressed emotions among the inhabitants of a Chinese village.

From New York Times

What follows is an artfully organized, minute-by-minute description of “the great somnambulism,” a horrific night of sleepwalking that “blotted out the sky and blanketed the earth, leaving everything in a state of chaos.”

From Washington Post