dormire

Dormire (Italian for “to sleep”) is an Italian verb that describes the act of sleeping. It is used intransitively to indicate sleeping or resting, and can refer to overnight sleep as well as shorter periods of rest such as a nap.

Usage and meaning: The verb covers general sleep, sleep quality (dormire bene, dormire male), and common expressions such as dormire tutta la notte. It also appears in idioms such as dormire sugli allori (to rest on one’s laurels) and dormire come un ghiro (to sleep like a dormouse).

Conjugation overview: Present indicative forms are dormo, dormi, dorme, dormiamo, dormite, dormono. Imperfect forms are dormivo, dormivi, dormiva, dormivamo, dormivate, dormivano. Future forms are dormirò, dormirai, dormirà, dormiremo, dormirete, dormiranno. In passato prossimo, the auxiliary is avere: ho dormito, hai dormito, ha dormito, abbiamo dormito, avete dormito, hanno dormito. Subjunctive present forms are dorma, dorma, dorma, dormiamo, dormiate, dormano. The imperative is dormi, dorma, dormiamo, dormite, dormano. The past participle is dormito; the present participle is dormiente and the gerund is dormendo.

Etymology: Dormire derives from Latin dormire, rooted in Proto-Italic foundations and related to the Latin somnus “sleep.” This lineage reflects its basic semantic core across the Romance languages.