Etymology

sleep

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Today it means: To rest in a state of reduced consciousness. Full definition →

Middle English slepen ← Anglian Old English slēpan ← Proto-West Germanic *slāpan
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sleep · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*slēpaną“to sleep”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*slāpan
  3. Anglian Old English · inherited fromslēpan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromslepen
  5. English todaysleep

From Middle English slepen, from Anglian Old English slēpan (West Saxon Old English slǣpan), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpan, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną (“to sleep”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sleepe, sliap, sliip, släipe (“to sleep”), Saterland Frisian släipe (“to sleep”), West Frisian sliepe (“to sleep”), Alemannic German schlaaffe, schlaafä, schlafe, schloafe, schloafen, schlofe, schlàfu (“to sleep”), Bavarian schlofn, schlåfn, sghlofn (“to sleep”), Central Franconian schlofe (“to sleep”), Cimbrian slaafan, slafan, slavan (“to sleep”), Dutch and Low German slapen (“to sleep”), German schlafen (“to sleep”), Limburgish schloëpe, slaope (“to sleep”), Luxembourgish schlofen (“to sleep”), Mòcheno schloven (“to sleep”), Vilamovian šłȫfa, śłöfa (“to sleep”), Yiddish שלאָפֿן (shlofn, “to sleep”), Crimean Gothic schlipen (“to sleep”), Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐌰𐌽 (slēpan, “to sleep”).

sleep · noun2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*slēpaz“sleep”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*slāp
  3. Old English · inherited fromslǣp“sleep”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromslepe
  5. English todaysleep

From Middle English slepe, sleep, sleepe, from Old English slǣp (“sleep”), from Proto-West Germanic *slāp, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaz (“sleep”). Cognates Cognate with Yola slepe (“sleep”), Saterland Frisian Släip (“sleep”), West Frisian sliep (“sleep”), Dutch slaap (“sleep”), German Schlaf (“sleep”), Luxembourgish Schlof (“sleep”), Vilamovian šłȫf, śłöf (“sleep”), Yiddish שלאָף (shlof, “sleep”), Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐍃 (slēps, “sleep”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishslǣp all →

Slapton

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.