Drowsing

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈdɹaʊzɪŋ/

Definitions

1. A gentle drifting into sleep can occur while engaging in a lackadaisical exploration of information or content, often leaving one in a haze of semi-awareness
2. The process of dozing lightly may coincide with a laid-back perusal of various media, resulting in a blend of consciousness and slumber
3. Being in a state of light sleep or nearly falling asleep, often during a restful moment

Etymology: Drowsing is the present participle of "drowse", and the verb's origins lie in a much older idea of sinking or drooping. Its Old English ancestor, "drūsan" or "drūsian", meant "to droop, sink" and also "to become feeble, inactive, low, or slow". Those senses come from a Proto-Germanic root that may have meant "to look down" or "to mourn", and it may have merged with a neighbouring root meaning "to fall". Sleepiness, in other words, was first imagined as a kind of sagging or slackening rather than as a state of rest. The verb may also have grown out of the adjective "drowsy", which is attested earlier than it. The older Old English verb "drēosan", meaning "to fall" or "to perish", is a close relative, and its Middle English descendant "dresen" meant "to fall down". Across the Germanic languages the family keeps this sense of weakening and slackening: Dutch "drozen" means "to doze", Norwegian "døse" means "to drowse", and Swedish "drösa" means "to be slow".

Synonyms: napping, dozing, sleeping

Antonyms: waking, alertness