Etymograph

English

hypnosis

Hypnosis comes from Ancient Greek ὕπνωσις, from ὑπνόω ‘to put to sleep’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *supnós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*supnós1‘sleep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*húpnos1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕπνος1húpnos‘sleep, slumber’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑπνόω1hupnóō‘to put to sleep’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕπνωσις1húpnōsis
  6. Englishtodayhypnosis1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hypnosis

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*supnósWiktionary, English hypnosis‘sleep’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*húpnosWiktionary, English hypnosisreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕπνοςWiktionary, English hypnosishúpnos‘sleep, slumber’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑπνόωWiktionary, English hypnosishupnóō‘to put to sleep’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕπνωσιςWiktionary, English hypnosishúpnōsis
  6. EnglishtodayhypnosisWiktionary, English hypnosis

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swep- ‘to sleep’

insomnia, soporific, 20 more

Today it means

noun A trancelike state, artificially induced, in which a person has a heightened suggestibility, and in which suppressed memories may be experienced.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hypnosis”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *supnós / hypnosis

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