noctambulate
/nɒkˈtæm.bjə.leɪt/
noctambulate means to sleepwalk. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
noctambulate is pronounced /nɒkˈtæm.bjə.leɪt/.
Why “noctambulate” is a great word
NOCTAMBULATE — [Verb] To walk about at night, or to sleepwalk. A back-formation from 'noctambulation' (1721), on the basis of the verb-forming suffix -ate; ultimately from Latin *nox, noctis* ("night") and *ambulare* ("to walk"). First attested in 1955. Unlike "somnambulate," which specifies a trance of sleep, or "perambulate," which implies a daytime survey, noctambulate encompasses both the purposeful and the unconscious night-wander. It is the insomniac pacing empty city streets under sodium-vapor lamps, the somnambulist's hands grazing the banister in a dark house, and the fox's silent patrol of suburban gardens—each a testament to the different kinds of wakefulness that darkness can hold, a word for moving through a realm where the boundaries between will and instinct are themselves asleep.
Etymology
First attested in 1955; back-formation from noctambulation (1721) on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix); compare French noctambuler (1866).
verb
- To sleepwalk.
- To walk about at night.