ext_34538 ([identity profile] simplyn2deep.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 1_million_words2025-06-19 11:21 am

Word of the Day 06/19/25 Siesta

Siesta (noun, verb)
siesta [see-es-tuh]


noun
1. a midday or afternoon rest or nap, especially as taken in Spain and Latin America.: He is trying to relax, but the road construction noise seems likely to ruin his siesta.

verb (used without object)
2. to take a midday or afternoon rest or nap.: It got so hot that even the cicadas started singing earlier and siestaed during the heat of the day.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1645–55; from Spanish, from Latin sexta ( hōra ) “the sixth (hour), midday”

Example Sentences
Animals go to their shelter, humans have a siesta, even plants have mechanisms to avoid an overdose of light.
From Science Daily

The entire town seemed to be taking a siesta.
From Los Angeles Times

“I did not present the award for Best Picture. I am not Al Pacino. Maybe you dreamed this during one of your courtroom siestas?”
From New York Times

Dubbed the “mass siesta,” the event was in commemoration of World Sleep Day.
From Seattle Times

While some argue for a stricter definition of the phenomenon, others include naps, siestas, and brief nighttime forays as examples of modern segmented sleep patterns.
From National Geographic

Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.

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