soporific

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The Word of the Day for December 11 is: 

soporific   \sah-puh-RIFF-ik\   adjective
          1 *a : causing or tending to cause sleep b : tending to dull 
awareness or alertness
     2 : of, relating to, or marked by sleepiness or lethargy

Example sentence:
         After dinner, Owen sank onto the couch by the fireplace and -- 
succumbing to the soporific effect of his full belly and the comfortable 
surroundings -- quickly fell asleep.

Did you know?
          "It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is 
'soporific.' I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then I am not 
a rabbit." In _The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies_ by Beatrix Potter, the children 
of Benjamin Bunny were very nearly done in by Mr. McGregor because they ate 
soporific lettuces that put them into a deep sleep. Their near fate can help 
you recall the history of "soporific." That term traces to the Latin noun 
"sopor," which means "deep sleep." (That root is related to "somnus," the Latin 
word for sleep and the name of the Roman god of sleep.) French speakers used 
"sopor" as the basis of "soporifique," which was probably the model for the 
English "soporific."





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