Somnambulist
/ˌsɒmˈnæm.bjʊ.lɪst/noun
A person who walks or performs actions while asleep.
Did you know?Somnambulist was built from Latin somnus (“sleep”) + ambulare (“to walk”), and the same walking-root hides in words like ambulance, perambulate, and amble.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*swep-
“to sleep”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂em-bʰ-
“to go, move about”
Latin
Latin
somnus
“sleep”
Latin
Latin
ambulare
“to walk, go about”
Late Latin
Latin
somnambulus
“sleepwalking”
17th Century
English
somnambulist
“a sleepwalker”
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