dor·mant

(dôr′mənt)

adj.

1. Not awake; asleep: "[He] lay dormant on the scruffy couch, his mouth open, reading glasses slumped on his swollen nostrils" (Steven Heighton).

2. Present but not active or manifest though capable of becoming so: "a harrowing experience which ... lay dormant but still menacing" (Charles Jackson). See Synonyms at inactive.

3. Temporarily inactive: a dormant volcano.

4. Being in a condition of biological rest or inactivity characterized by cessation of growth or development and the suspension of many metabolic processes: a dormant bud; a dormant bacterium.

[Middle English, from Old French, from present participle of dormir, to sleep, from Latin dormīre.]

dor′man·cy n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dormant

(ˈdɔːmənt) or

dormient

adj

1. quiet and inactive, as during sleep

2. latent or inoperative

3. (Geological Science) (of a volcano) neither extinct nor erupting

4. (Biology) biology alive but in a resting torpid condition with suspended growth and reduced metabolism

5. (Heraldry) (usually postpositive) heraldry (of a beast) in a sleeping position

[C14: from Old French dormant, from dormir to sleep, from Latin dormīre]

ˈdormancy n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dor•mant

(ˈdɔr mənt)

adj.

1. inactive, as in sleep; torpid.

2. being in a state of minimal metabolic activity with cessation of growth.

3. undeveloped, unasserted, or inactive; latent: talents that lay dormant.

4. (of a volcano) not erupting.

5. held in abeyance; temporarily inoperative.

6. (of a pesticide) applied to a plant during a period of dormancy: a dormant spray.

7. (of a heraldic animal) lying with the head on the forepaws.

[1350–1400; Middle English dorma(u)nt < Anglo-French, present participle of dormir < Latin dormīre to sleep; see -ant]

syn: See inactive.

dor·mant

(dôr′mənt)

1. Biology In an inactive state in which growth stops and metabolism is slowed. Many plants survive the winter as dormant seeds or bulbs. Hibernating animals are also in a dormant state.

2. Geology Not active but capable of renewed activity: a dormant volcano.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dormant

In mine warfare, the state of a mine during which a time delay feature in a mine prevents it from being actuated.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	dormant - in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation; "dormant buds"; "a hibernating bear"; "torpid frogs" hibernating, torpid biological science, biology - the science that studies living organisms asleep - in a state of sleep; "were all asleep when the phone rang"; "fell asleep at the wheel"
	2.	dormant - (of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct ; "a dormant volcano" inactive active - (of e.g. volcanos) erupting or liable to erupt; "active volcanos"
	3.	dormant - lying with head on paws as if sleeping sleeping heraldry - the study and classification of armorial bearings and the tracing of genealogies unerect - not upright in position or posture
	4.	dormant - inactive but capable of becoming active; "her feelings of affection are dormant but easily awakened" abeyant inactive - not active physically or mentally; "illness forced him to live an inactive life"; "dreamy and inactive by nature"

dormant

adjective

1. latent, inactive, lurking, quiescent, unrealized, unexpressed, inoperative The virus remains dormant in nerve tissue.

2. inactive, sleeping, inert, suspended, asleep, sluggish, slumbering, comatose, hibernating, torpid The hamster lapses into a dormant state in cold weather.
inactive active, conscious, alert, awake, aroused, awakened, wide-awake, alive and kicking, wakeful

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

dormant

adjective

Existing in a temporarily inactive form or state:

abeyant, inactive, latent, quiescent, sleeping.

Translations

ساكِن، خامِد، هامِد

dřímajícíspící

slumrende

schlafend untätig

óvirkur

addormentato

snaudžiantis

snaudošs

i dvale sovende

aktif olmayanuyku hâlinde

休眠的暂停活动的蛰伏的

dormant

[ˈdɔːmənt] ADJ [volcano] → inactivo (Bio, Bot) → durmiente; [energy] → latente
to lie dormant (lit) → estar inactivo (fig) → quedar por realizarse

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dormant

[ˈdɔː^rmənt] adj

(= inactive) [larvae, plant] → dormant(e); [virus, bacteria] → latent(e); [season] → de dormance; [volcano] → endormi(e)

[idea] → en sommeil
to lie dormant [idea] → rester inexploité(e)

(FINANCE) [account] → sans mouvement

(= not invoked) [rule, law] → inappliqué(e)
to lie dormant [law] → être en sommeil

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dormant

adj volcano → untätig; animal, plant, bud → ruhend; (Banking) account → ruhend; energy → verborgen, latent; passion → schlummernd; dormant state → Ruhezustand m; to remain dormant → ruhen; (disease, virus) → schlummern; the dormant season → die Ruhezeit; to lie dormant (project, idea, work of art) → brachliegen; to let a matter lie dormant → eine Sache ruhen or liegen lassen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dormant

[ˈdɔːmənt] adj (Bot) (volcano) → quiescente; (energy) → latente
to lie dormant (fig) → rimanere latente

dormant

(ˈdoːmənt) adjective

not dead but not active. a dormant volcano.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The dormant intelligence of my curious cousin is like the dormant sound in a musical instrument.

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HERE is a story that has lain dormant for seven hundred years.

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Still, there was no knowing when the dormant faculty might wake and smite the lyre.

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And when Jarvis Lorry saw the kindled eyes, the resolute face, the calm strong look and bearing of the man whose life always seemed to him to have been stopped, like a clock, for so many years, and then set going again with an energy which had lain dormant during the cessation of its usefulness, he believed.

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They could undergo great privations, and were admirable for the service of the rivers, lakes, and forests, provided they could be kept sober, and in proper subordination; but once inflamed with liquor, to which they were madly addicted, all the dormant passions inherent in their nature were prone to break forth, and to hurry them into the most vindictive and bloody acts of violence.

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No intimation of danger assailed the dormant faculties of the ape-man--he saw no crouching hairy figures upon the ground beneath him nor the three apes that swung quietly into the tree beside him.

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During the first eleven days, whilst nature was dormant, the mean temperature taken from observations made every two hours on board the Beagle, was 51 degs.; and in the middle of the day the thermometer seldom ranged above 55 degs.

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I know'd it!" shouted the old man, in his tremulous voice, his rigid features working powerfully, as if the names the other mentioned awakened some long dormant emotions, connected with the events of an anterior age.

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She had then taken the impassive figure in her arms, and, still upon her knees, was weeping over it, kissing it, calling to it, rocking it to and fro upon her bosom like a child, and trying every tender means to rouse the dormant senses.

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She pursued him with attentions, and when his passion was dormant sought to excite it, for then at least she had the illusion of holding him.

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I could ascertain nothing in relation to it, except that the bequest was accompanied by some cynical remarks, to the effect that the testator would feel happy if his legacy were instrumental in reviving the dormant interest of only one member of Doctor Softly's family in the fortunes of the hopeful young gentleman who had run away from home.

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He tried vainly to think of her as a person to be pitied--a person with a morbidly sensitive imagination, conscious of the capacities for evil which lie dormant in us all, and striving earnestly to open her heart to the counter-influence of her own better nature; the effort was beyond him.

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