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Origin and history of Somnus

Somnus(n.)

"sleep personified; the god of sleep in Roman mythology," equivalent of Greek Hypnos, son of Night and brother of Death, 1590s, from Latin somnus "sleep, drowsiness," from PIE *swep-no-, suffixed form of root *swep- "to sleep."

also from 1590s

Entries linking to Somnus

sleep(n.)

Middle English slep, from Old English slæp "state of quiescence of voluntary and conscious functions; sleepiness, inactivity," from Proto-Germanic *slepaz, from the root of sleep (v.). Compare cognate Old Saxon slap, Old Frisian slep, Middle Dutch slæp, Dutch slaap, Old High German slaf, German Schlaf, Gothic sleps.

By c. 1200 as "a period of sleep." Personified in English from late 14c., on the model of Latin Somnus, Greek Hypnos. Figurative use for "repose of death" was in Old English; euphemistic put (a pet animal) to sleep "kill painlessly" is recorded from 1884 (put to sleep forever). A similar imagery is in cemetery.

Sleep deprivation is attested from 1906. Sleep-walker "somnambulist" is attested from 1747; first record of sleep-walking is from 1797. Sleep apnea is by 1976. To be able to do something in (one's) sleep "easily" is recorded as a hyperbolic phrase by 1953. Sleep apnea is by 1916.

*swep-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to sleep."

It might form all or part of: hypno-; hypnosis; hypnotic; hypnotism; insomnia; somni-; somnambulate; somniloquy; somnolence; somnolent; Somnus; sopor; soporific.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit svapnah, Avestan kvafna-, Greek hypnos, Latin somnus, Lithuanian sapnas, Old Church Slavonic sunu, Old Irish suan, Welsh hun "sleep;" Latin sopor "a deep sleep;" Old English swefn, Old Norse svefn "a dream."

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    Trends of Somnus

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    somnambulate
    a back-formation from somnambulism, from French somnambulisme, from Modern Latin somnambulus "sleepwalker," from Latin somnus...
    somnambulism
    walking in one's sleep or under hypnosis," from French somnambulisme, from Modern Latin somnambulus "sleepwalker," from Latin somnus...
    manna
    Old English borrowing from Late Latin manna, from Greek manna, from Hebrew mān, probably literally "substance exuded by the tamarisk tree," but used in Greek and Latin specifically with reference to the substance miraculously supplied to the Children of Israel during their wander
    clobber
    "to hit hard, defeat decisively," 1941, British air force slang, of unknown origin, probably related to bombing; possibly echoic. Related: Clobbered; clobbering. In late 19c. British slang an identical word principally had to do with clothing, as in clobber (n.) "clothes," (v.) "
    identity
    c. 1600, "sameness, oneness, state of being the same," from French identité (14c.), from Medieval Latin identitatem (nominative identitas) "sameness," ultimately from Latin idem (neuter) "the same" (see idem). [For discussion of Latin formation, see entry in OED.] Earlier form of
    dodge
    1560s, "go this way and that in speech or action," a sense now obsolete; from 1680s as "start suddenly aside, shift suddenly," as to evade a blow;" 1704 as "to move to and fro, shift about;" origin and sense evolution obscure. Perhaps it is from or akin to Scottish and Northern E
    belong
    mid-14c., "to go along with, properly relate to," from be- intensive prefix, + longen "to go," from Old English langian "pertain to, to go along with," which is of uncertain origin but perhaps related to the root of long (adj.). The senses of "be the property of" and "be a member
    face
    c. 1300, "the human face, a face; facial appearance or expression; likeness, image," from Old French face "face, countenance, look, appearance" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *facia (source also of Italian faccia), from Latin facies "appearance, form, figure," and secondarily "visage,
    counterfeit
    c. 1300, countrefeten, "pretend to be," from countrefet (adj.), Old French contrefait "imitated" (Modern French contrefait), past participle of contrefaire "imitate," from contre- "against" (see contra-) + faire "to make, to do" (from Latin facere "to make, do," from PIE root *dh
    succor
    c. 1200, socour, earlier socours "aid, help," from Anglo-French succors "help, aid," Old French socors, sucurres "aid, help, assistance" (Modern French secours), from Medieval Latin succursus "help, assistance," from past participle of Latin succurrere "run to help, hasten to the

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