by Kevin Burton
If this starts to sound too much like the glass half empty-half full thing, please let me know.
But when someone says, “You look like you’re half asleep” doesn’t that also mean you are half awake? And which is preferable, wakefulness or sleep?
And in the literal sense of course, there are no halfsies on sleep. You either are or you aren’t.
Well I hope you will be sufficiently alert to enjoy this set of words from Merriam-Webster, for those who love sleep.
Beauty Sleep
We can’t say much about the science behind sleep making you beautiful, but we do know the term dates to at least 1828. Beauty sleep, occasionally known as beauty rest, is “sleep before midnight” suggesting that the earlier you go to bed, the more beautiful you will be.
“Beauty sleep is very much a real thing,” says family nurse practitioner, aesthetic injector, and founder of Aion Aesthetics, Akis Ntonos. “Many of the restorative capabilities our skin has are achieved during our night sleep, since cells regenerate quicker at nighttime.”
—Kiana Murde, Vogue (online), 9 March 2023.
Kip
This short word for “sleep” or “nap” is found chiefly in British sources and is often used in the phrase “going to kip.” The word comes from a Dutch term that originally referred to a cheap tavern. Eventually it was used to refer to a bed, and then to sleep itself.
Slugabed
A couch potato is someone who spends a great deal of time watching tv (presumably on a couch). So then what do you call someone who stays in bed after the usual or proper time to get up: Why, a slugabed of course. Slugabed apparently comes from the same word as the slimy gastropod, a Norwegian dialect word meaning “heavy slow person.”
Slumberland
Slumberland, dreamland, land of nod – what do these places have in common? None of them are real places. We define slumberland as “an unreal country that is a realm of sleep” and dreamland as “an unreal delightful country existing only in imagination or in dreams.” The related placename land of Nod is simply used to mean “the state of sleep.”
Consopite
Consopite is an obsolete word from Latin consopitus meaning “to put to sleep” and earlier from Latin sopor meaning “sleep.” Sopor is the same root in the word soporific, which means “tending to cause sleep” as in “the soporific agent was added to the tea to consopite its drinker.”
Doss
This chiefly British term is usually used in the phrase “doss down” to mean “to sleep or bed down in a convenient place.” It can also be used to mean “a crude or makeshift bed.” The word may come from Latin dorsum meaning “back,” the same Latin word that gives us dorsal (“situated on the back” as in “a dorsal fin”).
Hypersomnolence
Hypersomnolence, formed by Latin influence of hyper- and somnus (meaning “sleep;” think insomnia), is often used in medical contexts to describe prolonged nighttime sleep or excessive sleepiness. The more common medical term is hypersomnia which we define as “a disorder of sleep that is characterized by prolonged nocturnal sleep periods which typically occur at least three times a week, by sleep that is not restorative or refreshing, and by the presence of excessive daytime sleepiness.” Not as fun as sleeping in on Saturday!
Hypnology
If you have an interest is studying sleep, you might want to become a hypnologist Hypnology is the scientific study of sleep and hypnotic phenomena. The word comes from Greek hypnos meaning “sleep” and logos meaning “word.”
Somnambulist
A somnambulist is someone who moves around in their sleep, and especially someone who walks in their sleep. The “somn-” part of the word comes from Latin somnus meaning “sleep.” The second part, -ambulist, is from Latin ambulāre meaning “to go by foot, walk for pleasure or health, travel.” This is the same Latin word that gives us ambulance and preamble. Another word for this type of person is noctambulit, a person who walks while asleep.
Somniloquist
If you stay in your bed at night (i.e., you’re not a somnambulist) but you don’t do it quietly, you might be a somniloquist. A somniloquist is a person who talks in their sleep. The “somni” means “sleep” and the “-loqu-” part of the word is the same as in ventriloquist and eloquent and comes from the Latin word loquī meaning “to speak.”
Are you a somniloquist? You may be one without realizing it – just ask your significant other if you’re not sure.
Wink
Wink, meaning “a brief period of sleep” is commonly used in phrases such as “I haven’t slept a wink” and “get in a few winks,” and especially “forty winks” as in The Cowardly Lion’s line in this conversation from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and her companions enter the field of poppies (poppies have a soporific effect):
Dorothy: Oh no loquat, please, I have to rest for just a minute. Toto, where’s Toto?
[she falls down, asleep]
The Scarecrow: Oh you can’t rest now, we’re nearly there!
[Tin Man starts crying]
The Scarecrow: Don’t cry! You’ll rust yourself again!
The Cowardly Lion: Coming to think of it, forty winks wouldn’t be bad…
[he sags]
The Scarecrow: [trying to hold him up] Don’t you start too!
Here’s hoping you put, or will put, these sleep words into practice today!
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