Word.ws English Dictionary

dreamtime

/ˈdɹiːmtaɪm/

dreamtime is the alternative form of Dreamtime.

Noun

dreamtime (plural dreamtimes)

  1. The time for dreaming.

Proper noun capitalized: Dreamtime

Dreamtime

  1. (Australian Aboriginal mythology) The time of the creation of the world, by the ancestors out of their own essence.
    • No, Brian Elliott's hobby-horse is not the Jindyworobaks' political links—it is his conviction that they are to be remembered and well respected for their awareness of Aboriginal myth and legend and for their understanding and symbolic poetical use of the alcheringa concept (the Dreamtime myth of...1980, Meanjin - Volume 39, page 402
    • The tall slender birds were performing a legendary fight in the Dreamtime story – one that the old law had marked on them forever with a wattle of flaming red skin on the back of their heads.2013, Alexis Wright, The Swan Book, Constable (2016), page 101

Synonyms of dreamtime

Forms of dreamtime

Noun
pluraldreamtimes
Proper noun
alternative formDream Time
alternative formDream-time
alternative formdreamtime

Origin of dreamtime

A false calque of Eastern Arrernte Altyerrenge (“the Dreaming”), based on the incorrect assumption that the word is related to altyerre (“a dream”) or altyerre areme (“to dream”). "-time" is an addition unrooted in Aboriginal language.

Words formed from dreamtime

Phrases with dreamtime

Questions about dreamtime

What does dreamtime mean?
Dreamtime means the time for dreaming.
What is dreamtime the alternative form of?
Dreamtime is the alternative form of Dreamtime.
What part of speech is dreamtime?
Dreamtime can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce dreamtime?
Dreamtime is pronounced /ˈdɹiːmtaɪm/.
What is the plural of dreamtime?
The plural of dreamtime is dreamtimes.

Words near dreamtime in the dictionary

  1. dreamsters
  2. dreamt
  3. dreamt on
  4. dreamt up
  5. dreamtest
  6. dreamtime
  7. dreamtime track
  8. dreamtime tracks
  9. dreamward
  10. dreamware
  11. dreamwhile

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dreamtime (page history and authors); Dreamtime (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-Dreamtime.wav.

Cite this entry: “dreamtime.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dreamtime. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.