mimir (Spanish)

Where does "mimir" come from?

The Spanish verb 'mimir', meaning 'to sleep' or 'to die', is formed as an alteration of the standard Spanish verb 'dormir'[1]. In turn, 'dormir' traces its ancestry back through Old Spanish 'dormir' and Latin 'dormīre'[2]. This Latin term descended from Proto-Italic '*dormjō', which ultimately goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*drem-' meaning 'to sleep'[2].

Open questions

• The intermediate stages connecting the Proto-Indo-European root to Latin involve reconstructed forms that are not directly attested. [2]

Full etymology tree

• mimir (Spanish), 'to sleep'
  • derived dormir (Spanish), 'to sleep'
    • inherited dormir (Old Spanish), 'to sleep (rest)'
      • inherited dormire (Latin), 'present active infinitive of dormiō'
        • inherited *dormjō (Proto-Italic), 'to sleep'
          • inherited *dr̥m-yé-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
            • derived *drem- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to run'

Sources

1. mimir (Spanish) - Wiktionary
2. dormir (Spanish) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris