Etymograph

English

sleeper

Sleeper comes from Middle English sleper.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleper1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1625sleeper1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sleeper
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Judicature: “Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sleperWiktionary, English sleeper
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1625sleeperWiktionary, English sleeper. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Judicature: “Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers…”

Formed from sleep + -er

Proto-Germanic *slēpaną ‘to sleep’

Proto-West Germanic *slāpan

Anglian Old English slēpan ‘to sleep’

Middle English slepen ‘to sleep’

English sleep

Every English word from Middle English sleper

Today it means

noun Someone who sleeps.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sleeper”. 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 / Middle English sleper / sleeper

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