What does "abed" mean?

In bed, or on the bed; confined to bed.

What is a synonym for "abed"?

Common synonyms include: at ease, at rest, diseased, in bed.

//əˈbɛd// adv, name

adv, name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adverb

1
In bed, or on the bed; confined to bed. archaic, not-comparable
"Not to be abed after midnight"
2
To childbed archaic, not-comparable
"I mean, she's brought a-bed"

Adverb

Proper Noun

"The world was awake to the 2nd of May, but Mayfair is not the world, and even the menials of Mayfair lie long abed."

Etymology 1

From Middle English abedde, o bedde, from Old English on (“in”) + bedde (“bed”). Equivalent to a- (“in, on”) + bed.

Etymology 2

From Arabic عَابِد (ʕābid, “servant, worshipper”)

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.