Standard Lemma guide

somnambulism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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

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  • /sɒmˈnæmbjʊlɪzəm/
  • Midwestern-US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

sleepwalking

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

walking by a person who is asleep

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sleepwalking, somnambulation, noctambulism, noctambulation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: walk, walking, sleeping

History

Etymology

From French somnambulisme, from New Latin somnambulus, from Latin somnus (“sleep”) + ambulō (“to walk”), + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اَلسَّيْر أَثْنَاءَ ٱلنَّوْم (as-sayr ʔaṯnāʔa n-nawm) — sleepwalking
  • Armenian: լուսնոտություն (lusnotutʻyun) — sleepwalking
  • Armenian: քնաշրջություն (kʻnašrǰutʻyun) — sleepwalking
  • Bulgarian: сомнамбулизъм (somnambulizǎm) — sleepwalking
  • Catalan: somnambulisme — sleepwalking
  • Chinese Mandarin: 睡游症 (shuìyóuzhèng) — sleepwalking
  • Chinese Mandarin: 夢遊症 /梦游症 (mèngyóuzhèng) — sleepwalking
  • Czech: náměsíčnost — sleepwalking
  • Danish: søvngængeri — sleepwalking
  • Dutch: slaapwandelen — sleepwalking
  • Esperanto: somnambulismo — sleepwalking
  • Finnish: somnambulismi — sleepwalking
  • Finnish: unissakävely — sleepwalking
  • French: somnambulisme — sleepwalking
  • German: Schlafwandeln — sleepwalking
  • German: Somnambulismus — sleepwalking
  • German: Somnambulie — sleepwalking
  • Hebrew: סהרוריות — sleepwalking
  • Hindi: निद्राचार (nidrācār) — sleepwalking
  • Italian: sonnambulismo — sleepwalking
  • Japanese: 睡眠時遊行症 (suiminjiyūkōshō) — sleepwalking
  • Polish: somnambulizm — sleepwalking
  • Portuguese: sonambulismo — sleepwalking
  • Romanian: somnambulism — sleepwalking
  • Romanian: noctambulism — sleepwalking
  • Romanian: selianism — sleepwalking
  • Russian: сомнамбули́зм (somnambulízm) — sleepwalking
  • Russian: лунати́зм (lunatízm) — sleepwalking
  • Serbo-Croatian: somnabulizam — sleepwalking
  • Serbo-Croatian: mjesečarstvo — sleepwalking
  • Slovak: námesačníctvo — sleepwalking
  • Spanish: sonambulismo — sleepwalking
  • Spanish: somnambulismo — sleepwalking
  • Swahili: kutembea usingizini — sleepwalking