Somnambulist
Roger from Sault Ste
Marie asked about the word somnambulistic. It’s the adjective form of the noun
somnambulist, which breaks down into the Latin somn-, sleep, and ambul-, to walk. Somn- also shows up in words such as insomnia and
somniferous, and ambul- appears
in ambulation and ambulance, which was originally a field hospital that followed a moving army.
Four words designate
types of walking, though one of them is a nonce word.
- funambulist: a tightrope performer [L. fun-, rope]
- noctambulist: a sleep walker who moves about
at night [L. noct-, night]
- somnambulist: a sleep walker [L. somn-, sleep]
- vicambulist: one who walks about hoping to
be seen and recognized [a nonce word, a word used on one specific
occasion or in one specific text or writer's works. L. vicus, street]
Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts
Dictionary, 2nd edition
Nook edition
Nook edition
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