Adormition
/əˈdɔːr.mɪʃ.ən/noun
The act or state of falling asleep, especially in obsolete or ecclesiastical usage.
Did you know?Adormition is related to the religious term Dormition, used especially for the Virgin Mary’s peaceful death, literally treating death as a final ‘falling asleep.’
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*drem-
“To sleep; a reconstructed root associated with sleep and dreaming.”
Classical Latin
Latin
dormīre
“To sleep.”
Late Latin
Late Latin
adormīre
“To fall asleep or go to sleep; formed with ad-, ‘to’ or ‘toward,’ plus dormīre.”
Late Latin
Latin
adormītiō
“A falling asleep or going to sleep.”
Middle English
English
adormicioun
“Falling asleep; an obsolete or rare noun formed through French-influenced English.”
Modern English
English
adormition
“A rare or obsolete term for falling asleep, chiefly encountered in historical or ecclesiastical contexts.”