somnambulism
[ som-nam-byuh-liz-uh m, suh m- ]
/ sɒmˈnæm byəˌlɪz əm, səm- /
noun
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- sommerfeld, arnold johannes wilhelm,
- somnambulance,
- somnambulant,
- somnambulate,
- somnambulation,
- somni-,
- somnifacient,
- somniferous,
- somniferously,
- somnific
Origin of somnambulism
1790–1800; < New Latin somnambulismus, equivalent to somn(us) sleep + ambul(āre) to walk + -ismus -ism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for somnambulism
somnambulism
/ (sɒmˈnæmbjʊˌlɪzəm) /
noun
a condition that is characterized by walking while asleep or in a hypnotic tranceAlso called: noctambulism
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
somnambulism
1786, "walking in one's sleep or under hypnosis," from French somnambulisme, from Modern Latin somnambulus "sleepwalker," from Latin somnus "sleep" (see Somnus) + ambulare "to walk" (see amble (v.)).
Originally brought into use during the excitement over "animal magnetism;" it won out over noctambulation. A stack of related words came into use early 19c., e.g. somnambule "sleepwalker" (1837, from French somnambule, 1690s), earlier somnambulator (1803); as adjectives, somnambulary (1827), somnambular (1820).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
somnambulism
[ sŏm-năm′byə-lĭz′əm ]
n.
sleepwalking
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.