somnambulate

[ som-nam-byuh-leyt, suhm- ]

verb (used without object)

, som·nam·bu·lat·ed, som·nam·bu·lat·ing.

1. to walk during sleep; engage in sleepwalking.

somnambulate

/ sɒmˈnæmbjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. intr to walk while asleep

Derived Forms

• somˌnambuˈlation, noun
• somˈnambulant, adjectivenoun
• somˈnambulance, noun
• somˈnambuˌlator, noun

Other Words From

• som·nam·bu·lant adjective noun
• som·nam·bu·la·tion [som-nam-by, uh, -, ley, -sh, uh, n, s, uh, m-], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of somnambulate¹

First recorded in 1825–35; somn(i-) ( def ) + ambulate

Word History and Origins

Origin of somnambulate¹

C19: from Latin somnus sleep + ambulāre to walk

Example Sentences

Despite somnambulating his way through a phony-baloney paint-by-numbers display of empathy and involvement, the pundits fell for it all over again.

From Salon

Young men somnambulated toward photographers in board shorts and leis — their face a waxy glow and fake blood dripping from the corners of their mouth.

From Washington Post

A device like a ship's intercom receives messages from this realm of the unreal – surely, in surrealist terms, the realm of dreams – while a somnambulating psychoanalyst, a Freud-like wraith, also wafts along.

From The Guardian

"I'm a somnambulist, only I somnambulate faster than most people."

From Project Gutenberg

I had an uncle that somnambulated, and he used to hide the sheets in an old carriage in the barn.

From Project Gutenberg