Sompnolent

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by a strong desire to sleep or a feeling of lethargy and sluggishness
2. In a condition of sleepiness or torpor, with reduced alertness and sluggish movement
3. Heavily inclined toward sleep, with a numbed awareness and sluggish responsiveness to stimuli

Etymology: "Sompnolent" is an older spelling of "somnolent," and the silent-looking "p" points to its Latin roots. It comes from Latin "somnolentus," meaning sleepy or drowsy, built from "somnus" (sleep) and the suffix "-lentus," meaning full of or given to, as in "opulentus" (wealthy). The "mp" spelling is a Latin-style respelling. English writers of the period often copied Latin spellings even when the sounds had changed, and the same habit gave Chaucer's word for a summoner its "mp" spelling, "sompnour." That spelling probably reflects an association with "somnus," though the sound and the meaning of the two words are not linked.