Meaning: sleep

Illustrative Context

He is sleeping in the house.

Disambiguation

The intransitive *verb (to) sleep, not the noun sleep.

Target Sense

• The most generic verb for sleep, as the basic antonym of ‘being awake’, and which must be applicable to a prototypical sense defined as follows: the habitual sleeping by humans, during the night, for several hours as the main rest period during the daily cycle, in a natural (not induced) state of not being conscious, and lying down (typically in some form of bed).
• The target sense is the stative one, for the state of being asleep, not other senses such as a change of state or inchoative fall asleep.
• Avoid narrower lexemes that specifically intensify or qualify particular forms or duration of sleep, e.g. snooze, doze, nod off, etc..
• The target register is the most neutral one: avoid terms that are literary, poetic (e.g. slumber), slang (e.g. French roupiller), or technical, medical terms.
• Avoid terms specific to unconsciousness not through natural sleep in the daily cycle, but induced medically or because of injury or illness (anaesthesia, coma, etc.).
• The target sense is the literal one, as in the prototypical context as defined above. Avoid other, additional lexemes that have predominantly figurative senses, e.g. sleep as imagery for dreaming, rest, being unconscious, unresponsive or inattentive, as a euphemism for being dead, etc..
• The target sense is for sleeping by people, although in many languages the preferred generic word may, as with English sleep, be applicable to animals too. This is not a concern, provided that the lexeme entered is the default word for humans sleeping. Avoid any lexeme specific to the sleeping of animals, however.