Dreamtime

noun

Dream·​time ˈdrēm-ˌtīm 

variants or less commonly dreamtime

1

a

: the period of time in Aboriginal Australian mythology when the world was created

[There are] stories about how these rivers were created back in the Dreamtime, so I think that's very important to tell those stories and to put them up somewhere for tourists to visit …

—Don Rowlands, quoted at abc.net.au

—often used before another noun

Using a laser pointer, he directs us to the Southern Cross, a constellation that's best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. Then, while telling the Aboriginal Dreamtime creation story of the Emu in the Sky, also known as the Milky Way, he traces the emu's outline.

—MuskokaRegion.com

The new show retains key Indigenous stories, including an explanation of the origins of the didgeridoo, Aboriginal dancing and the dreamtime legend of the Three Sisters.

—Jennie Curtin

b

: the Aboriginal Australian stories about Dreamtime

… traditional Aboriginal narratives, called Dreamtime, about the creation of the world and society.

—Pat Shipman

2

dreamtime : the time during which someone sleeps and dreams

For parents of small children, the idea of waking up in the city that never sleeps takes on a whole new meaning. But one Manhattan family may have found a clever way to lean into the dreamtime disarray: Their newly renovated home is as beguiling as a bedtime story.

—Veranda

Word History

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for Dreamtime

• airtime
• bedtime
• daytime
• downtime
• enzyme
• halftime
• lifetime
• longtime
• lunchtime
• mealtime
• meantime
• nighttime