Dormition
/dɔːrˈmɪʃən/noun
The act of falling asleep or, in religious use, the death of the Virgin Mary.
Did you know?Dormition comes from the same Latin root as “dormant” and “dormitory,” but in Eastern Christian tradition it was elevated into a holy term for the Virgin’s ‘falling asleep’ rather than an ordinary death.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*drem-
“to sleep”
Latin
Latin
dormire
“to sleep”
Late Latin
Latin
dormitio
“a sleeping; falling asleep”
Old French
Old French
dormition
“sleep; slumber”
Middle English
English
dormition
“sleep; in religious use, the death of the Virgin Mary”
Modern English
English
dormition
“the act of falling asleep; specifically, the death of the Virgin Mary”