somniferous

[som-nif-er-uh s, suh m-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR somniferous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

bringing or inducing sleep, as drugs or influences.

Origin of somniferous

1595–1605; < Latin somnifer inducing sleep (somni-, combining form of somnus sleep + -fer -fer) + -ous

Related formssom·nif·er·ous·ly, adverb

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

Related Words for somniferous

asleep, blah, comatose, dopey, drowsy, heavy, hypnotic, inactive, lethargic, listless, narcotic, opiate, out, quiet, sedative, sleeping, slow, sluggish, slumberous, somnifacient

Examples from the Web for somniferous

Historical Examples of somniferous

It must have been a work of vast ability in the somniferous school of literature.
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Claude Bernard thought it the most somniferous of the opium alkaloids.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth
Caro spoke of his "serious blague," while Victor Hugo found him "somniferous."
Egoists
James Huneker
Two o'clock has just struck, and no somniferous result has followed.
Caper-Sauce
Fanny Fern
Quaffing it down, and betaking himself to bed, under its somniferous influence, the Wye waterman is soon in the land of dreams.
Gwen Wynn
Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for somniferous

somniferous

somnific

adjective

rare tending to induce sleep

Derived Formssomniferously, adverb

Word Origin for somniferous

C17: from Latin somnifer (from somnus sleep + ferre to do) + -ous

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 somniferous

adj.

"sleep-producing," c.1600, from Latin somnifer, from somni- "sleep" + ferre "to bear" (see infer). With -ous.

somniferous in Medicine

somniferous

[sŏm-nĭf′ər-əs]

adj.

Inducing sleep; soporific.