Etymograph

English

somnolent

Somnolent comes from Latin somnolentus ‘heavy with sleep, sleepy, drowsy, dozy,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swep-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swep-‘to sleep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swépnos‘sleep, slumber’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsomnus‘sleep’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsomnolentus‘heavy with sleep, sleepy, drowsy, dozy, somnolent’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sompnolent
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsomnolent
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1966same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swep-‘to sleep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*swépnos‘sleep, slumber’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsomnus‘sleep’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsomnolentus‘heavy with sleep, sleepy, drowsy, dozy, somnolent’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sompnolent
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentsomnolent
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1966same form

Earliest quotation: 1966, Thomas Pynchon, New York: “One minute she was gazing at a mockup of…”

first attested First attested in 1615 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1615.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swep- ‘to sleep’

hypnosis, hypnotic, soporific, 18 more

through Latin somnus ‘sleep’

insomnia, 10 more

Today it means

adj Drowsy or sleepy.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swep- / somnolent

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