Dormition

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɔːˈmɪʃ(É™)n/

Origin

From Middle French dormition, from Latin dormītiōnem.

Full definition of dormition

Noun

1. The process of falling asleep.
2. (euphemistic) The process of death or the actual death itself.
3. (Eastern Orthodoxy, often capitalized) The death and assumption into heaven of the Virgin Mary.
• 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 507:The Virgin had allegedly given away her robe just before her death – what is in Eastern tradition called her Dormition, or falling asleep.

Related terms

• dorm
• dormant
• dormitive
• dormitory

Synonyms

• sleep