somniferous

[ som-nif-er-uhs, suhm- ]

adjective

1. bringing or inducing sleep, as drugs or influences.

somniferous

/ sɒmˈnɪfərəs /

adjective

1. rare.
   tending to induce sleep

Derived Forms

• somˈniferously, adverb

Other Words From

• som·nifer·ous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of somniferous¹

1595–1605; < Latin somnifer inducing sleep ( somni-, combining form of somnus sleep + -fer -fer ) + -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of somniferous¹

C17: from Latin somnifer (from somnus sleep + ferre to do) + -ous

Example Sentences

Everyone was back in the Dolby Theatre, a welcome return after last year’s somniferous experiment from Steven Soderbergh, which was held in Los Angeles’s Union Station.

From Washington Post

Still, it’s a somniferous situation for the photographers, who camp out in their cars for hours at a time for a few seconds of activity.

From New York Times

Outfitted in squiggly patterned linens by Dusen Dusen, a Brooklyn designer, the bed was somniferously comfortable but seemed smaller than the advertised king size.

From New York Times

There is a bristly-bearded tailor too, very beery, having his last pint, who utters a similar somniferous intention.

From Project Gutenberg

The princess, put to sleep by Horpyna with a decoction of somniferous herbs, did not wake; her eyelids merely trembled a little from the light of the torch.

From Project Gutenberg