English
sleeper
Sleeper comes from Middle English sleper.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleper
- Englishearliest quotation 1625sleeper
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleper
- Englishearliest quotation 1625sleeper
Earliest quotation: 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Judicature: “Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers…”
Formed from sleep + -er
Proto-Germanic *slēpaną ‘to sleep’
Proto-West Germanic *slāpan
Anglian Old English slēpan ‘to sleep’
Middle English slepen ‘to sleep’
English sleep
Every English word from Middle English sleper
Today it means
noun Someone who sleeps.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English sleper / sleeper