rêves

Rêves is the French noun for dreams. The word covers both nocturnal dreams experienced during sleep and aspirational dreams or hopes. The singular form is rêve, the plural rêves. In everyday speech, rêver (to dream) and rêve appear in expressions about goals and desires.

Beyond language, rêver as a concept parallels what scientists describe as dreams. In psychology and neuroscience, dreams are linked to REM sleep and are studied for memory consolidation and emotional processing. Explanations range from Freud's psychoanalytic view of dreams as expressions of unconscious wishes to activation-synthesis models describing how neural activity yields dream narratives. Cognitive approaches emphasize problem-solving and imagination during dreaming.

In literature and art, rêves are used to evoke desire, memory, and the imagination. The term appears in poetry and cinema as a device to explore interior life and personal aspirations. As a cultural symbol, rêves can blur the line between fantasy and reality.

Cross-cultural perspectives treat dreams as private experiences or possible sources of insight. In clinical settings, discussing dream content is sometimes used in psychotherapy to explore emotions and conflicts; however, interpretations vary by therapist and culture, and empirical evidence for broad therapeutic efficacy remains mixed.