*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of dream

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Germanic *draumaz Proto-West Germanic *draum Old English drēam Middle English drem English dream From Middle English dream, dreem, dreeme, drem

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Ideal; perfect.

noun

Imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping. · A hope or wish. · A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy.

verb

To see imaginary events in one's mind while sleeping. · To hope, to wish. · To daydream. · To envision as an imaginary experience (usually when asleep).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Germanic *draumaz Proto-West Germanic *draum Old English drēam Middle English drem English dream From Middle English dream, dreem, dreeme, drem, dreme, dræm, from Old English drēam, drēm, drīm (“joy; melody, music; frenzy”), from Proto-West Germanic *draum, from Proto-Germanic *draumaz (“dream”), from earlier *draugmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrowgʰ-mos, from *dʰrewgʰ- (“to deceive”). The sense of "dream", though not attested in Old English, may still have been present (compare Old Saxon drōm (“bustle, revelry, jubilation", also "dream”)), and was undoubtedly reinforced later in Middle English by Old Norse draumr (“dream”), from same Proto-Germanic root. Cognates Cognate with Scots dreme (“dream”), Saterland Frisian Droom (“dream”), West Frisian dream (“dream”), Dutch droom (“dream”), German Traum (“dream”), Limburgish Droum (“dream”), Luxembourgish Dram (“dream”), Yiddish טרוים (troym, “dream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål drøm (“dream”), Faroese dreymur (“dream”), Icelandic draumur (“dream”), Norwegian Nynorsk draum, drøm (“dream”), Swedish dröm (“dream”); also Breton drouk (“bad; evil”), Cornish drog (“bad; evil; invalid; nasty; wicked; wrong”), Irish droch- (“bad; ill-”), Manx drogh (“bad; evil”), Scottish Gaelic droch (“bad”), Welsh drwg (“bad; naughty”), Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (družaⁱti, “to deceive, mislead”), Bactrian λρωγο (lrōgo, “lie; falsehood”), Baluchi دروگ (darog, “lie; falsehood”), Central Kurdish درۆ (dro, “lie”), Northern Kurdish derew (“lie”), Pashto دروغ (droğ, “lie; falsehood”), Persian دُروغ (doruġ / durōġ, “lie; falsehood”), Sanskrit द्रुह्यति (druhyati, “to hurt; to bear malice or hatred; to be a foe or rival”). The verb is from Middle English dreamen, dreme, dremen, dreomen, possibly (see below) from Old English drēman, drīeman, drȳman (“to rejoice; to play an instrument joyously; to sing a song joyfully”), from Proto-West Germanic *draumijan, from Proto-Germanic *draumijaną (“to be dream”), from the noun. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian drem, driime (“to dream”), Saterland Frisian drööme (“to dream”), West Frisian dreame, dreamje (“to dream”), Bavarian dramma, trama (“to dream”), Central Franconian drööme (“to dream”), Cimbrian truamen (“to dream”), Dutch dromen (“to dream”), German träumen (“to dream”), Low German draimen (“to dream”), Luxembourgish dreemen (“to dream”), Yiddish טרוימען (troymen, “to dream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål drømme (“to dream”), Faroese droyma (“to dream”), Icelandic dreyma (“to dream”), Norwegian Nynorsk drømma, drømme, drøyma, drøyme (“to dream”), Swedish drömma (“to dream, muse”). more details The derivation from Old English drēam is controversial, since the word itself is only attested in writing in its meaning of “joy, mirth, musical sound”. Possibly there was a separate word drēam meaning “images seen while sleeping”, which was avoided in literature due to potential confusion with the “joy” sense. Otherwise, the modern sense must have been borrowed from another Germanic language, most probably Old Norse. Since this is the common sense in all Germanic languages outside the British isles, a spontaneous development from “joy, mirth” to “dream” in Middle English is hardly conceivable. In Old Saxon, the cognate drōm did mean “dream”, but was a rare word. Attested words for “sleeping vision” in Old English, both of which appeared in The Dream of the Rood, were mǣting (Middle English mæte, mete), from an unclear source, and swefn (Modern English sweven), from Proto-Germanic *swefnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *swepno-, *swep-; compare Ancient Greek ὕπνος (húpnos, “sleep”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dʰrewgʰ-",
        "id": "deceive"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:drem",
        "tree": "+"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-\nProto-Indo-European *-mos\nProto-Germanic *draumaz\nProto-West Germanic *draum\nOld English drēam\nMiddle English drem\nEnglish dream\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*draum\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"drēam\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"drem\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"dream\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"dream\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English dream"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "drēam"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English drēam"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*draum"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *draum"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*draumaz",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *draumaz (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*dʰrowgʰ-mos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dʰrowgʰ-mos"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "drōm",
        "t": "bustle, revelry, jubilation\", also \"dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon drōm (“bustle, revelry, jubilation\", also \"dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "draumr",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse draumr (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "dreme",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots dreme (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "Droom",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian Droom (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "dream",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian dream (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "droom",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch droom (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Traum",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "German Traum (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "li",
        "2": "Droum",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Limburgish Droum (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lb",
        "2": "Dram",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Luxembourgish Dram (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "טרוים",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish טרוים (troym, “dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nb",
        "2": "drøm",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish and Norwegian Bokmål drøm (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "dreymur",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese dreymur (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "draumur",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic draumur (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "draum"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk draum"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "dröm",
        "t": "dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish dröm (“dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "br",
        "2": "drouk",
        "t": "bad; evil"
      },
      "expansion": "Breton drouk (“bad; evil”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "kw",
        "2": "drog",
        "t": "bad; evil; invalid; nasty; wicked; wrong"
      },
      "expansion": "Cornish drog (“bad; evil; invalid; nasty; wicked; wrong”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "droch-",
        "t": "bad; ill-"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish droch- (“bad; ill-”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gv",
        "2": "drogh",
        "t": "bad; evil"
      },
      "expansion": "Manx drogh (“bad; evil”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gd",
        "2": "droch",
        "t": "bad"
      },
      "expansion": "Scottish Gaelic droch (“bad”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "drwg",
        "t": "bad; naughty"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh drwg (“bad; naughty”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ae",
        "2": "𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌",
        "t": "to deceive, mislead"
      },
      "expansion": "Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (družaⁱti, “to deceive, mislead”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xbc",
        "2": "λρωγο",
        "t": "lie; falsehood"
      },
      "expansion": "Bactrian λρωγο (lrōgo, “lie; falsehood”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bal",
        "2": "دروگ",
        "tr": "darog",
        "t": "lie; falsehood"
      },
      "expansion": "Baluchi دروگ (darog, “lie; falsehood”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ckb",
        "2": "درۆ",
        "t": "lie"
      },
      "expansion": "Central Kurdish درۆ (dro, “lie”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "kmr",
        "2": "derew",
        "t": "lie"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Kurdish derew (“lie”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ps",
        "2": "دروغ",
        "tr": "droğ",
        "t": "lie; falsehood"
      },
      "expansion": "Pashto دروغ (droğ, “lie; falsehood”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fa",
        "2": "دُروغ",
        "tr": "doruġ / durōġ",
        "t": "lie; falsehood"
      },
      "expansion": "Persian دُروغ (doruġ / durōġ, “lie; falsehood”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "द्रुह्यति",
        "t": "to hurt; to bear malice or hatred; to be a foe or rival"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit द्रुह्यति (druhyati, “to hurt; to bear malice or hatred; to be a foe or rival”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "dreamen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English dreamen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "drēman"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English drēman"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*draumijan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *draumijan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*draumijaną",
        "t": "to be dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *draumijaną (“to be dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "drem"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian drem"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "drööme",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian drööme (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "dreame"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian dreame"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bar",
        "2": "dramma"
      },
      "expansion": "Bavarian dramma"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-cfr",
        "2": "drööme",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Central Franconian drööme (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cim",
        "2": "intruamen",
        "3": "truamen",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Cimbrian truamen (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "dromen",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch dromen (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "träumen",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "German träumen (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "draimen",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German draimen (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lb",
        "2": "dreemen",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Luxembourgish dreemen (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "טרוימען",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish טרוימען (troymen, “to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nb",
        "2": "drømme",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish and Norwegian Bokmål drømme (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "droyma",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese droyma (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "dreyma",
        "t": "to dream"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic dreyma (“to dream”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "drømma"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk drømma"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "drömma",
        "t": "to dream, muse"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish drömma (“to dream, muse”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "more details"
      },
      "expansion": "more details"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sweven"
      },
      "expansion": "English sweven"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*swefnaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *swefnaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "ὕπνος",
        "3": "",
        "4": "sleep"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ὕπνος (húpnos, “sleep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:drem",
        "tree": "+"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-\nProto-Indo-European *-mos\nProto-Germanic *draumaz\nProto-West Germanic *draum\nOld English drēam\nMiddle English drem\nEnglish dream"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*dʰrewgʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰrewgʰ-#Proto-Indo-European:_deceive"
    ],
    [
      "*-mos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-mos"
    ],
    [
      "*draumaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/draumaz"
    ],
    [
      "*draum",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/draum"
    ],
    [
      "drēam",
      "dream#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "drem",
      "drem#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dream",
      "dream#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dreem",
      "dreem#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dreeme",
      "dreeme#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "drem",
      "drem#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dreme",
      "dreme#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dræm",
      "dræm#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "drēam",
      "dream#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "drēm",
      "drem#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "drīm",
      "drim#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*draum",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/draum"
    ],
    [
      "*draumaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/draumaz"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰrewgʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰrewgʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "drōm",
      "drom#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "draumr",
      "draumr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "dreme",
      "dreme#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "Droom",
      "Droom#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "dream",
      "dream#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "droom",
      "droom#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Traum",
      "Traum#German"
    ],
    [
      "Droum",
      "Droum#Limburgish"
    ],
    [
      "Dram",
      "Dram#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "טרוים",
      "טרוים#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "drøm#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "drøm",
      "drøm#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "dreymur",
      "dreymur#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "draumur",
      "draumur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "draum",
      "draum#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "drøm",
      "drøm#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "dröm",
      "dröm#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "drouk",
      "drouk#Breton"
    ],
    [
      "drog",
      "drog#Cornish"
    ],
    [
      "droch-",
      "droch-#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "drogh",
      "drogh#Manx"
    ],
    [
      "droch",
      "droch#Scottish_Gaelic"
    ],
    [
      "drwg",
      "drwg#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌",
      "𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌#Avestan"
    ],
    [
      "λρωγο",
      "λρωγο#Bactrian"
    ],
    [
      "دروگ",
      "دروگ#Baluchi"
    ],
    [
      "درۆ",
      "درۆ#Central_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "derew",
      "derew#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "دروغ",
      "دروغ#Pashto"
    ],
    [
      "دُروغ",
      "دروغ#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "द्रुह्यति",
      "द्रुह्यति#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "dreamen",
      "dreamen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dreme",
      "dreme#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dremen",
      "dremen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dreomen",
      "dreomen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "drēman",
      "dreman#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "drīeman",
      "drieman#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "drȳman",
      "dryman#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*draumijan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/draumijan"
    ],
    [
      "*draumijaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/draumijaną"
    ],
    [
      "drem",
      "drem#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "driime",
      "driime#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "drööme",
      "drööme#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "dreame",
      "dreame#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "dreamje",
      "dreamje#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "dramma",
      "dramma#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "trama",
      "trama#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "drööme",
      "drööme#Central_Franconian"
    ],
    [
      "truamen",
      "intruamen#Cimbrian"
    ],
    [
      "dromen",
      "dromen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "träumen",
      "träumen#German"
    ],
    [
      "draimen",
      "draimen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "dreemen",
      "dreemen#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "טרוימען",
      "טרוימען#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "drømme#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "drømme",
      "drømme#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "droyma",
      "droyma#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "dreyma",
      "dreyma#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "drømma",
      "drømma#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "drømme",
      "drømme#Chong"
    ],
    [
      "drøyma",
      "drøyma#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "drøyme",
      "drøyme#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "drömma",
      "drömma#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "drōm",
      "drom#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "mǣting",
      "mæting#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mæte",
      "mæte#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "mete",
      "mete#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "swefn",
      "swefn#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "sweven",
      "sweven#English"
    ],
    [
      "*swefnaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/swefnaz"
    ],
    [
      "*swepno-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/swepno-"
    ],
    [
      "*swep-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/swep-"
    ],
    [
      "ὕπνος",
      "ὕπνος#Ancient_Greek"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Ideal; perfect."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "recordId": "42f3f75f3367f4ce4d4a65a1ca117a2db562fcbb730fa3c34829f1afe776905a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "0ec96107fc72b7330bc92f52af18e6f8cd553013c6e9ccee09a8887a0b23b1aa",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30484
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping.",
        "A hope or wish.",
        "A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "recordId": "520b55b3fdf4a6cad11c7eee6beeda6a4916d3a02ea6980aca2a7fa575dcbc91",
      "rawRecordSha256": "20dad69daa93b438c2bca283cb83f1176148206913c0d0a5fcafdc1f8870a2b9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30482
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To see imaginary events in one's mind while sleeping.",
        "To hope, to wish.",
        "To daydream.",
        "To envision as an imaginary experience (usually when asleep)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "69573c1675b6f0cf82a709e001f78a250443ce2bd0a13633818299577e51bdc4",
      "rawRecordSha256": "65e2f3d4e1bc36198aae6bee1e8036e832f9b8195d4b1a70d1a348a7aa95d968",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30483
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 1,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for dream →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZHJlYW0