miegas

Miegas is the Lithuanian noun for sleep, defined as the natural state of rest during which consciousness is diminished and the body undergoes restorative processes. It can refer to both the act of sleeping and the overall state of being asleep at a given time. In everyday language, it appears in phrases such as geras miegas (a good sleep) and blogas miegas (poor sleep). In medical and psychological contexts, miegas is used to discuss sleep patterns, duration, and sleep quality; related terms include nemiga (insomnia), miego kokybė (sleep quality), and mieguistumas (drowsiness or sleepiness). The verb miegoti means to sleep, with the past tense miegojo.

Etymology-wise, miegas is native to Lithuanian and has cognates in other Baltic languages. It is linked to the Proto-Baltic roots associated with rest and sleep; a closely related Latvian cognate is miegs.

Usage notes: the word is commonly combined with modifiers describing quantity or quality, such as ilgas miegas (a long sleep) or trumpas miegas (a short sleep). In everyday speech, distinctions are made between sleep itself (miegas), the act of sleeping (miegoti), and states related to sleepiness or sleep disorders (mieguistumas, nemiga). The term is typically used in neutral, clinical, or descriptive contexts, rather than poetic or figurative language.