reverie

See also rêverie

English

WOTD – 31 December 2012    

Alternative forms

• revery

Etymology

From Old French reverie (“revelry”), from resver (“to dream, to rave”), of uncertain origin. Compare rave.
Attested as “caper, frolic,” from 14thC; as “daydreaming” from 1657.

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕʹvə-rē, IPA: /ˈɹɛvəɹi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

reverie (plural reveries)

1. (archaic) A caper, a frolic; merriment. [From 14thC.]
2. A state of dreaming while awake; a loose or irregular train of thought; musing or meditation; daydream. [From 1657.]
   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess, Canto VII, lines 107-108

     we sat / But spoke not, rapt in nameless reverie, […]

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 3, Lord Stranleigh Abroad^[1]:

     He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into reverie on the part of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine.

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”:

     Even the blithely unselfconscious Homer is more than a little freaked out by West’s private reverie, and encourages his spawn to move slowly away without making eye contact with the crazy man.

3. An extravagant conceit of the imagination; a vision.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison

     If the minds of men were laid open, we should see but little difference between that of the wise man and that of the fool; there are infinite reveries and numberless extravagancies pass through both.

Synonyms

• (state of dreaming while awake): air castle, castle in Spain, castle in the air, daydream, daydreaming, oneirism

Translations

state of dreaming while awake

• Dutch: mijmering (nl) f, dagdroom (nl)
• Finnish: haaveilu (fi), unelmointi (fi)
• French: rêverie (fr) f
• Georgian: ოცნება (ka) (oc’neba), ზმანება (ka) (zmaneba)
• Italian: sogno ad occhi aperti

• Portuguese: viagem (pt) f
• Russian: забытьё (ru) (zabytʹjó) n, грёзы (ru) (grjózy)
• Serbo-Croatian: sanjarenje (sh)
• Spanish: vigilia (es) f

conceit of imagination

• Finnish: päiväuni (fi)

See also

• build castles in the air
• woolgather
• daydream on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:daydream

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Old French

Noun

reverie f (oblique plural reveries, nominative singular reverie, nominative plural reveries)

1. Alternative form of resverie.

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Romanian

Etymology

From Old French reverie (“revelry”), from resver (“to dream, to rave”), of uncertain origin.

Noun

reverie f (plural reverii)

1. reverie, any form of dreaming (e.g. daydreaming, dreaming, and thinking)

Declension

declension of reverie

	singular		plural
gender f	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	o reverie	reveria	niște reverii	reveriile
genitive/dative	unei reverii	reveriei	unor reverii	reveriilor

See also

• visare