ដេក
deek
The English verb sleep is translated into Khmer as ដេក (deek).
The verb ដេក means to rest in a state of reduced consciousness. It is also used to mean the physical action of lying down in a horizontal position.
Meaning: to rest in state of reduced consciousness (verb)
Which one should you use?
The noun form ដំណើរដេកលក់ refers to the state of reduced consciousness (sleep) itself, whereas ដេក is the action of sleeping.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
ដេក is the common word for sleep. If you wish to be more polite or formal, particularly when expressing the idea of resting, you should use សម្រាក.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
deek
Did you know?
- The Khmer word ដេក is a cognate with the word 'thiah' in the Khasi language of India and 'tek' in Jehai. These similarities persist across thousands of miles due to their shared Proto-Mon-Khmer origin.
- In Khmer, the concept of 'falling asleep' is often expressed by adding the word លក់ to ដេក. While ដេក is the act of lying down, លក់ specifically denotes the transition into unconsciousness.
- Because ដេក means both 'to sleep' and 'to lie down', it can be used to describe animals resting in ways that humans do not, such as a dog lying on its side.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំ ត្រូវការដេក ។I have to sleep.The first example shows how to express a necessity to use ដេក.Tatoeba #4552987 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1009343 by AOCinJAPAN
- ថម អាចដេកកន្លែងណាក៏បាន ។Tom can sleep anywhere.The second example illustrates the ability to use ដេក in any location.Tatoeba #4552993 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1095641 by CK
- ខ្ញុំបានបញ្ចប់ការដេករបស់អ្នក ។I ended your sleep.The third example demonstrates the use of ដេក in the context of ending someone's sleep.Tatoeba #4567944 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1121322 by cntrational
Example conversation
Sokha and Sok are talking at home late at night.
- សុខា Sokhaតើបងចង់ដេកហើយឬនៅ?tae bong chong dek haeuy reu nov?Do you want to sleep yet?
- សុខ Sokបាទ ខ្ញុំចង់ដេកឥឡូវនេះ។bat khnhom chong dek eylov nis.Yes, I want to sleep now.
- សុខា Sokhaតោះ ទៅដេកជាមួយគ្នា។toh tov dek cheamuoy knea.Let's go sleep together.
- សុខ Sokយល់ព្រម រាត្រីសួស្តី សុខា។yol prom reatrey sou sdei Sokha.Agreed, good night Sokha.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sleep” translations and entries ដេក, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ដេក, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
