different between idle vs somnolent

English

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English ?del, from Proto-Germanic *?dalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”), German eitel (“vain, conceited”), and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ??d(?)l, IPA^(key): /?a?d(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idol, idyll, idyl (US pronunciation)

Adjective

idle (comparative more idle, superlative most idle)

1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”

5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ford to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (of no importance): pointless
• See also Thesaurus:lazy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

idle (third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled)

1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

   to idle in an IRC channel

   • 1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)

     He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]

3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Derived terms

• idler

Related terms

• (sense 3) idling speed

Translations

Noun

idle (plural idles)

1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (gaming) An idle animation.
3. (gaming) An idle game.

   Synonyms: idle game, incremental game

References

• idle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• idle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• idle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Diel, deli, diel, eild, lied

English

Etymology

First attested in 1615. Borrowed from French somnolent, from Old French sompnolent, subsequently from Latin somnolentus, from somnus (“sleep”), from Proto-Indo-European *swépnos, *supnós (“dream”), which both are derived from *swep-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?mn?l?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s??mn?l?nt/

Adjective

somnolent (comparative more somnolent, superlative most somnolent)

1. Drowsy or sleepy.
2. (dated) Causing literal or figurative sleepiness.

   Synonyms: soporific; see also Thesaurus:soporific

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin somnolentus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /som.no?lent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /sum.nu?len/

Adjective

somnolent (feminine somnolenta, masculine plural somnolents, feminine plural somnolentes)

1. sleepy, drowsy

Related terms

• somni
• somnolència
• son

Further reading

• “somnolent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Old French sompnolent, borrowed from Latin somnolentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?m.n?.l??/

Adjective

somnolent (feminine singular somnolente, masculine plural somnolents, feminine plural somnolentes)

1. drowsy (inclined to drowse)

Verb

somnolent

1. third-person plural present indicative of somnoler
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of somnoler

Further reading

• “somnolent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Romanian

Etymology

From French somnolent, from Latin somnolentus.

Adjective

somnolent m or n (feminine singular somnolent?, masculine plural somnolen?i, feminine and neuter plural somnolente)

1. sleepy

Declension