Where does “sleepwalker” come from?
sleepwalker (English) comes from English Walker, from English -er, from Middle English -er, from Old French -er, from Latin -āre, from Proto-Italic -āō, from Proto-Indo-European -eh₂yéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti — he, she.
sleepwalker (English): Someone who walks about in their sleep
Definitions
- Someone who walks about in their sleep
Ancestry of “sleepwalker”, step by step
sleepwalker traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Walker
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Walker | 1843, Dickens, Charles, A Christmas Carol,... |
| 2 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English sleep
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sleep | To rest in a state of reduced consciousness; To... |
| 2 | Middle English | slepen | to sleep; to become asleep, to cause to sleep; to... |
| 3 | Old English | slǣpan | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | slāpan | to sleep |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | slēpaną | to sleep |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | slab- | to be weak, be languid; be weak, limp, languid |