Oversleep

Oversleep

Verb · /ˌəʊ.vəˈsliːp/

Definition

To sleep longer than intended; to fail to wake at the planned time because of sleeping beyond it; to sleep past an alarm or appointment.

Origin

From over- (beyond the appropriate time or amount) + sleep (Old English slǣpan, to sleep, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną). Oversleep therefore meaning to sleep beyond the point at which one intended to wake. The word appearing in English from the fifteenth century. A thoroughly ordinary and universal human experience, making oversleep one of those words that appears in virtually every language with a dedicated term. The word sitting in a neutral, slightly self-deprecating register — oversleeping being regarded as a minor failing, a concession to the body's preference for sleep over obligation.