What does dormitive mean?
Dormitive means causing or tending to cause sleep. It functions both as an adjective, describing a substance with sleep-inducing properties, and more rarely as a noun denoting such a substance itself — essentially a learned synonym for soporific or sleeping draught. The word derives from Latin dormire, 'to sleep', the same root that gives us dormant, dormitory, and dormer. Although it has never been common in everyday English, dormitive occupies an honoured place in intellectual history: in Molière's 1673 comedy Le Malade imaginaire, a physician explains that opium puts people to sleep because it contains a 'dormitive virtue', a beautifully circular explanation that became the classic example of empty, jargon-laden reasoning. Ever since, the phrase 'dormitive virtue' has been invoked by philosophers and scientists to mock explanations that merely rename a mystery rather than resolve it.
A substance or drug that induces sleep; a soporific.
"The apothecary prepared a mild dormitive from poppy extract."
The noun sense is rare in modern usage, appearing mainly in historical or literary texts.
Having the property of inducing sleep; soporific.
"The physician noted the decoction's dormitive effect on his restless patient."
Used only in the noun sense, referring to multiple sleep-inducing substances; uncommon outside historical or scholarly writing.
"Early pharmacopoeias listed numerous dormitives derived from herbs such as henbane and poppy."
Dormitive owes its fame to Molière, who mocked doctors for explaining opium's sleep-inducing power by its 'dormitive virtue' — a circular explanation that says nothing at all.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dormitive
Dormitive comes from the Latin verb dormire, meaning 'to sleep', via the Late Latin adjective form dormitivus. It entered English in the early modern period, appearing in seventeenth-century medical writing. Its most celebrated appearance is in Molière's play Le Malade imaginaire (1673), where 'virtus dormitiva' satirises scholastic medical explanation. It shares its Latin root with dormant, dormitory, dormer, and dormancy.
How dormitive is actually used
Dormitive is rare and largely confined to formal, medical-historical, or literary contexts. It is best known through the phrase 'dormitive virtue' (Latin virtus dormitiva), used since the seventeenth century as a byword for circular, pseudo-explanatory reasoning.
Easily confused with dormitive
Dormant describes something temporarily inactive or asleep, while dormitive describes something that causes sleep.
A sedative calms or reduces excitement, whereas a dormitive specifically induces sleep.