dormant

dormant [dawr-muhnt] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for dormant on Thesaurus.com adjective

1. lying asleep or as if asleep; inactive, as in sleep; torpid: The lecturer’s sudden shout woke the dormant audience.
2. in a state of rest or inactivity; inoperative; in abeyance: The project is dormant for the time being.
3. Biology. in a state of minimal metabolic activity with cessation of growth, either as a reaction to adverse conditions or as part of an organism’s normal annual rhythm.
4. undisclosed; unasserted: dormant musical talent.
5. (of a volcano) not erupting.
6. Botany. temporarily inactive: dormant buds; dormant seeds.
7. (of a pesticide) applied to a plant during a period of dormancy: a dormant spray.
8. Heraldry. (of an animal) represented as lying with its head on its forepaws, as if asleep.

Origin of dormant 1350–1400; Middle English dorma(u)nt Anglo-French, present participle of dormir Latin dormīre to sleep; see -ant Related formsnon·dor·mant, adjectivesem·i·dor·mant, adjectiveSynonyms for dormant See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 1, 2. quiescent. See inactive. 4. latent.Antonyms for dormant 1. awake, active. Related Words for dormant latent, inert, inoperative, passive, asleep, comatose, sluggish, down, fallow, lethargic, lurking, potential, quiescent, slack, suspended, torpid, abeyant, prepatent, slumbering, smoldering Examples from the Web for dormant Contemporary Examples of dormant

In addition to its million-and-a-half year dormant stretch, the fault line is nearly impossible to see from above.

Cleaning Up From Napa’s Winepocalypse

Jordan Salcito

August 30, 2014

We reported on the efforts of Dr. Susan Harkema, who is working to “wake up” dormant spinal cord neurons.

The Bionic Exoskeleton Helping Paraplegics Walk

Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD

June 29, 2014

Is there an innate, yet dormant capacity within the elderly to actually reverse their ailments if only given the right signals?

This Is the Way You’ll Live Forever

Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad

May 6, 2014

However, the company could simply file ‘dormant’ accounts that reveal nothing, according to a tax specialist quoted in The Times.

Pippa Middleton Sets Up Her Own Business

Tom Sykes

May 31, 2013

The Tea Party caucus she helped found to much fanfare in 2011 is now dormant.

Exclusive: Congressional Ethics Probe Adds to Michele Bachmann’s Political Woes

John Avlon

March 25, 2013

Historical Examples of dormant

Yet she wondered if the instinct were not dormant, needing but the suggestion.

Ester Ried Yet Speaking

Isabella Alden

Perhaps you reply that the soul is there, but in a dormant condition.

The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales

Arthur Conan Doyle

This letter suggests that the Kelly process had been dormant since 1858.

The Beginnings of Cheap Steel

Philip W. Bishop

He meant to have no mercy on her until he had roused her dormant caution.

The Prisoner

Alice Brown

Pray give her some stimulant to arouse her dormant faculties, if only for a moment.

The Masked Bridal

Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

British Dictionary definitions for dormant dormant adjective

1. quiet and inactive, as during sleep
2. latent or inoperative
3. (of a volcano) neither extinct nor erupting
4. biology alive but in a resting torpid condition with suspended growth and reduced metabolism
5. (usually postpositive) heraldry (of a beast) in a sleeping position

Compare active, passive Derived Formsdormancy, nounWord Origin for dormant C14: from Old French dormant, from dormir to sleep, from Latin dormīre Word Origin and History for dormant adj.

late 14c., “fixed in place,” from Old French dormant (12c.), present participle of dormir “to sleep,” from Latin dormire “to sleep,” from PIE root *drem- “to sleep” (cf. Old Church Slavonic dremati “to sleep, doze,” Greek edrathon “I slept,” Sanskrit drati “sleeps”). Meaning “in a resting situation” (in heraldry) is from c.1500. Meaning “sleeping’ is from 1620s.

dormant in Science dormant [dôr′mənt]

1. Being in an inactive state during which growth and development cease and metabolism is slowed, usually in response to an adverse environment. In winter, some plants survive as dormant seeds or bulbs, and some animals enter the dormant state of hibernation.
2. Not active but capable of renewed activity. Volcanoes that have erupted within historical times and are expected to erupt again are dormant.