noun
Meaning 1
the act of yawning
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
oscitancy
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Meaning 2
drowsiness, especially when marked by yawning
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he could not suppress a yawn
- the yawning in the audience told him it was time to stop
- he apologized for his oscitancy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: yawn, yawning, oscitance
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: reflex, reflex response, reflex action, instinctive reflex, innate reflex, inborn reflex, unconditioned reflex, physiological reaction
Narrower terms: pandiculation
noun
Meaning 4
drowsiness and dullness manifested by yawning
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: oscitance
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: dullness, obtuseness, sleepiness, drowsiness, somnolence
History
Etymology
From Latin oscitans + -cy, present participle of ōscitō (“to yawn, gape, open the mouth”), from Latin os (“the mouth”).