What is the origin of 'sleep tight'?
Read moreOne of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
A state of mental disturbance or confusion; madness, frenzy; a wild fit. Also: a nightmare (literal and figurative). Frequently in "in a widden-dream": all of a sudden.
Old English; earliest use found in Harley Glossary. Probably an alteration of an unattested Old English compound *wēden-drēam (from wēden raving, frenzied, mad + dream), after Old English wōd-drēam and wōd drēam.