Slumber Meaning
/ˈslʌm.bə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA very light state of sleep, almost awake.
nounA very light state of sleep, almost awake., A very heavy state of sleep.
Sentence Examples
He fell into a slumber inadvertently.
She woke from her slumber.
Parvati's mother never allowed her to have slumber parties.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The baby's gentle ____ was interrupted by the loud noise of a car honking.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The peaceful ____ of the baby was interrupted when the neighbor's dog started barking loudly.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English slombren, slomren, frequentative of Middle English slummen, slumen (“to doze”), probably from Middle English slume (“slumber”), from Old English slūma, from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“slack, loose, limp, flabby”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“loose, limp, flabby”). Cognate with West Frisian slommerje, slûmerje (“to slumber”), Dutch sluimeren (“to slumber”), German schlummern (“to slumber, doze”), Swedish slummer (“to slumber”). By surface analysis, sloom + -er.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Fast asleep? It is no matter; / Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber."
— 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
"Ev’n Luſt and Envy ſleep, yet Love denies / Reſt to my Soul, and ſlumber to my Eyes."
— 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 29:
"He at last fell into a slumber, and thence into a fast sleep, which detained him in that place until it was almost night."
— 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:
"Marcel Duchamp's urinal and readymades seemed in the beginning to be insider jokes or jokelike paradoxes meant to awaken people from their aesthetic slumbers."
— 2009, Ben-Ami Scharfstein, Art without borders: a philosophical exploration of art and humanity:
"He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 121:4:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The baby's gentle ____ was interrupted by the loud noise of a car honking.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The peaceful ____ of the baby was interrupted when the neighbor's dog started barking loudly.