Standard Lemma guide

somnambulist

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

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: [sɒmˈnæmbjʊlɪst]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person who walks about in their sleep; a sleepwalker.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

someone who walks about in their sleep

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sleepwalker, noctambulist

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sleeper, slumberer

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French somnambuliste, from Medieval Latin somnambulus (“sleepwalker”). By surface analysis, somn- + -ambulist.

Across languages

Translations

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: լուսնոտ (lusnot) — a sleepwalker
  • Armenian: քնաշրջիկ (kʻnašrǰik) — a sleepwalker
  • Belarusian: лунацік (lunacik) — a sleepwalker
  • Belarusian: лунацічка (lunacička) — a sleepwalker
  • Belarusian: самнамбула (samnambula) — a sleepwalker
  • Belarusian: самнамбул (samnambul) — a sleepwalker
  • Catalan: somnàmbul — a sleepwalker
  • Dutch: slaapwandelaar — a sleepwalker
  • Esperanto: somnambulo — a sleepwalker
  • Faroese: svøvngangari — a sleepwalker
  • Finnish: unissakävelijä — a sleepwalker
  • French: somnambule — a sleepwalker
  • Georgian: მთვარეული (mtvareuli) — a sleepwalker
  • German: Schlafwandler — a sleepwalker
  • German: Schlafwandlerin — a sleepwalker
  • Greek: υπνοβάτης (ypnovátis) — a sleepwalker
  • Hebrew: סַהֲרוּרִי (saharurí) — a sleepwalker
  • Hindi: निद्राचारी (nidrācārī) — a sleepwalker
  • Hungarian: alvajáró — a sleepwalker
  • Hungarian: holdkóros — a sleepwalker
  • Icelandic: svefngengill — a sleepwalker
  • Italian: sonnambulo — a sleepwalker
  • Lithuanian: somnambulas — a sleepwalker
  • Macedonian: месечар (mesečar) — a sleepwalker
  • Norwegian Bokmål: søvngjenger — a sleepwalker
  • Polish: lunatyk — a sleepwalker
  • Polish: lunatyczka — a sleepwalker
  • Polish: somnambulik — a sleepwalker
  • Polish: somnambuliczka — a sleepwalker
  • Portuguese: sonâmbulo — a sleepwalker
  • Portuguese: sonâmbula — a sleepwalker
  • Romanian: somnambul — a sleepwalker
  • Romanian: somnambulist — a sleepwalker
  • Russian: луна́тик (lunátik) — a sleepwalker
  • Russian: сомна́мбула (somnámbula) — a sleepwalker
  • Serbo-Croatian: ме̏сеча̄р — a sleepwalker
  • Serbo-Croatian: мје̏сеча̄р — a sleepwalker
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȅsečār — a sleepwalker
  • Serbo-Croatian: mjȅsečār — a sleepwalker
  • Spanish: sonámbulo — a sleepwalker
  • Spanish: somnámbulo — a sleepwalker
  • Swedish: sömngångare — a sleepwalker
  • Swedish: somnambul — a sleepwalker
  • Turkish: uyurgezer — a sleepwalker
  • Ukrainian: снови́да (snovýda) — a sleepwalker