The standard Greek verb for sleep, used extensively as a Christian euphemism for death. Koimaomai — 'to fall asleep' — became the early church's characteristic way of speaking about the death of believers.
Koimaomai is the word Paul uses throughout 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 for believers who have died. This was not mere sentimentality but theological precision: death for the Christian is a temporary sleep awaiting resurrection morning. Jesus Himself used this metaphor ('Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,' John 11:11) before dramatically demonstrating its truth. The Greek word gave early Christians their word for a burial place: koimeterion — 'sleeping place,' which became the English 'cemetery.' Every cemetery is a dormitory, not a destination. The trumpet will sound, and the sleepers will awake.