Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sleepy” come from?

Sleepy derives from Middle English -y, Middle French -ie, Latin -ia, Latin -ivus, Latin -ia, Proto-Indo-European -kos, and Proto-Indo-European -kos, forming an adjective suffix that marks a quality or state.

sleepy (English): Tired; feeling the need for sleep; Suggesting...

Definitions

  1. Tired; feeling the need for sleep; Suggesting...

Ancestry of “sleepy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishslepy—
2Old English*slǣpiġ—

Words derived from “sleepy”

  • sleepiness
  • sleepily
  • sleepyhead
  • sleepytime
  • unsleepy
  • nonsleepy
  • unsleepiness
Every word from Old English *slǣpiġ →