slumber
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
slumber
- /ˈslʌm.bə/ UK
- /ˈslʌm.bɚ/ US
- /ˈslʊm.bə/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌmbə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English slombren, slomren, frequentative of Middle English slummen, slumen (“to doze”), probably from Middle English slume (“slumber”), from Old English slūma, from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“slack, loose, limp, flabby”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“loose, limp, flabby”).
Cognate with West Frisian slommerje, slûmerje (“to slumber”), Dutch sluimeren (“to slumber”), German schlummern (“to slumber, doze”), Swedish slummer (“to slumber”). By surface analysis, sloom + -er.
noun slumbers · slumbre
- A very light state of sleep, almost awake. Fast asleep? It is no matter; / Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber.
- A very heavy state of sleep.
- A state of ignorance or inaction. Marcel Duchamp's urinal and readymades seemed in the beginning to be insider jokes or jokelike paradoxes meant to awaken people from their aesthetic slumbers.
- The snooze button on an alarm clock.
verb slumbers · slumbering · slumbered · slumbre
- To be in a very light state of sleep, almost awake. He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
- To be inactive or negligent.
- To lay to sleep. slumber his conscience
- To stun; to stupefy. Then vp he tooke the slombred sencelesse corse.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sleep, kip, sleeping, nap, rest, resting, repose, dream, roosting, doze, snooze, forty winks, somnolence, hibernation, torpor, siesta
Translations
Every language
noun a very light state of sleep
| Español | adormecimiento, adormilamiento |
|---|---|
| Português | pestana, soneca, cochilo |
| Français | somnolence |
| Deutsch | Halbschlaf, Schlummer, Schläfchen |
| Italiano | sonnolenza, dormiveglia |
| Ελληνικά | υπνηλία ypnilía, νύστα nýsta |
| Русский | сон son, дрёма drjóma |
| العربية | سِنَة sina |
| עברית | תְּנוּמָה tnumá |
verb to be in a very light state of sleep
| Español | adormecer, adormilar, dormitar |
|---|---|
| Português | cochilar, dormitar |
| Français | somnoler |
| Deutsch | schlummern, dösen |
| Italiano | dormiveglia, appisolarsi, assopirsi |
| Română | dormita, somnola |
verb to be inactive or negligent
| Español | estar aletargado |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | träumen |
| Italiano | appalugarsi |
Talk about this word "slumber." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/slumber. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. slumber. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/slumber "slumber." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/slumber.Cite this
@misc{slumber_2026,
title = {slumber},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/slumber},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
