Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dreamlike” come from?

Dreamlike derives from English dream combined with the Old English suffix -līċ (meaning resembling), tracing back through Proto-Germanic draumaz and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European roots.

dreamlike (English): Like something from a dream; having a sense of...

Definitions

  1. Like something from a dream; having a sense of...

Ancestry of “dreamlike”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdreamImaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping;...
2Middle Englishdremmusic; voice, conversing; joy, mirthfulness
3Old Frisiandrēma—
4Proto-West Germanic*draumijan—
5Proto-Germanicdraumijanąto dream
6Proto-Germanicdraumazdream
7Proto-Germanicdraugmaz—
8Proto-Indo-Europeandʰrowgʰ-mos—
9Proto-Indo-Europeandʰrewgʰ-to deceive, to mislead; to serve one's tribe;...
10Proto-Indo-Europeandʰer-to support; to hold

Words derived from “dreamlike”

  • dreamlikeness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰer- →