Dorter is from Old French dortoir, from Latin dormitorium ('sleeping place'), from dormire ('to sleep'); a doublet of 'dormitory'. The ancestry passes through Old French dortoir, Latin dormitorium, and Latin dormire. In present use as a noun, it means "a dormitory, especially in a monastery (archaic)", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include dormitory and dormant. The surrounding word family keeps the same base visible in dormitory and dormant, showing how the headword belongs to a larger cluster rather than standing alone.