dream

English Online Dictionary. What means dream‎? What does dream mean?

English

Alternative forms

• dreame (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English drem, from Old English drēam (“music, joy”), from Proto-West Germanic *draum, from Proto-Germanic *draumaz, from earlier *draugmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrowgʰ-mos, from *dʰrewgʰ- (“to deceive, injure, damage”).

The sense of "dream", though not attested in Old English, may still have been present (compare Old Saxon drōm (“bustle, revelry, jubilation", also "dream”)), and was undoubtedly reinforced later in Middle English by Old Norse draumr (“dream”), from same Proto-Germanic root.

Cognate with Scots dreme (“dream”), North Frisian drom (“dream”), West Frisian dream (“dream”), Low German Droom, Dutch droom (“dream”), German Traum (“dream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål drøm, Norwegian Nynorsk draum, Swedish dröm (“dream”), Icelandic draumur (“dream”). Related also to Old Norse draugr (“ghost, undead, spectre”), Dutch bedrog (“deception, deceit”), German Trug (“deception, illusion”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: drēm, IPA^(key): /dɹiːm/, [d͡ʒɹʷiːm], [d̠͡ɹ̠˔ʷiːm]
• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

dream (plural dreams)

1. Imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping.

   Synonym: (archaic) sweven

   Hyponym: nightmare

   have a dream

   scary dream

   vivid dream

   erotic dream

   feel like a dream

   be in a dream
2. (figurative) A hope or wish.

   have a dream

   fulfil a dream

   harbour a dream

   realize a dream
3. A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy.

   Synonym: vision

   live in a dream

   wake up from a dream

   impossible dream

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dream (third-person singular simple present dreams, present participle dreaming, simple past and past participle dreamed or dreamt)

1. (intransitive) To see imaginary events in one's mind while sleeping.
2. (intransitive) To hope, to wish.

3. (intransitive) To daydream.

4. (transitive) To envision as an imaginary experience (usually when asleep).
5. (intransitive) To consider the possibility (of).

Usage notes

• "Dreamt" is less common than "dreamed" in both US and UK English in current usage, though somewhat more prevalent in the UK than in the US.
• As with say and think, the argument of the intransitive verb is often a bare clause, as in  I dreamed I was a superhero.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

dream (not comparable)

1. Ideal; perfect.

References

Further reading

• “dream”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “dream”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Emard, derma-, m'dear, dearm, ad rem, armed, medar, derma, redam, Mader, ramed, -derma

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish dremm (“crowd, throng”), from Proto-Celtic *drexsmā, itself probably related to *drungos (“throng, host”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /dˠɾˠaumˠ/, /dˠɾˠoumˠ/ (as if spelled dram)
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /dʲɾʲɑːmˠ/, /dʲɾʲamˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /dʲɾʲamˠ/

Noun

dream m (genitive singular dreama, nominative plural dreamanna)

1. crowd, group of people, party (group of people traveling or attending an event together, or participating in the same activity)

Declension

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “dream”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 260
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “dream”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Middle English

Noun

dream

1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of drem

Old English

Alternative forms

• drīm, drēm, *drīem, drām

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *draum, from Proto-Germanic *draumaz, whence also Old Frisian drām, Old Saxon drōm (“joy, music, dream”), Old High German troum, Old Norse draumr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dræ͜ɑːm/

Noun

drēam m

1. joy, pleasure, gladness, rejoicing
2. that which causes merriment: musical instrument, music, melody, song, harmony
3. frenzy, ecstasy

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: drem, dreme, dreem, dreeme, dream, dræm (Early Middle English)
  • English: dream
  • Scots: dreme

See also

• swefn
• mǣtan

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish dremm (“crowd, throng”), from Proto-Celtic *drexsmā, itself probably related to *drungos (“throng, host”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪̊ɾaum/
• (Wester Ross) IPA^(key): /d̪̊ɾeːm/, /d̪̊ɾɛ̃um/

Noun

dream m (plural dreamannan)

1. kindred, tribe, company

   is rìoghail mo dhream ― royal is my race (motto of Clan MacGregor)

2. (chiefly biblical) people, folk
3. category

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “dream”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[4], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian drām, from Proto-West Germanic *draum, from Proto-Germanic *draumaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /drɪə̯m/

Noun

dream c (plural dreamen, diminutive dreamke)

1. dream, vision in one's sleep
   • 2008, Greet Andringa, Libben reach, Friese Pers Boekerij, page 70.

2. daydream
3. desire, what one wishes
4. delusion

Derived terms

• deidream

Related terms

• dreame

Further reading

• “dream”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011