Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sleepwalk” come from?

sleepwalk (English) comes from English sleep, from Middle English slepen, from Old English slǣpan, from Proto-West Germanic slāpan, from Proto-Germanic slēpaną, from Proto-Indo-European slab- — to be weak, be languid; be weak, limp, languid.

sleepwalk (English): To walk and/or perform other actions while...

Definitions

  1. To walk and/or perform other actions while...

Ancestry of “sleepwalk”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsleepTo rest in a state of reduced consciousness; To...
2Middle Englishslepento sleep; to become asleep, to cause to sleep; to...
3Old Englishslǣpan—
4Proto-West Germanicslāpanto sleep
5Proto-Germanicslēpanąto sleep
6Proto-Indo-Europeanslab-to be weak, be languid; be weak, limp, languid

Words derived from “sleepwalk”

  • sleepwalking
Every word from Proto-Indo-European slab- →