dormancy

American  

[dawr-muhn-see] / ˈdɔr mən si /

noun

1. the state of being dormant.

---

Etymology

Origin of dormancy

First recorded in 1780–90; dorm(ant) + -ancy

Explanation

A period of inactivity, with no moving or growing, is dormancy. A bear is in a stage of dormancy when it hibernates: both its heart rate and body temperature become very low and it doesn't do much besides sleep. You can describe any state of deep sleep or profound calm and quiet as dormancy, like your weekend of dormancy after an incredibly hectic week at school. It's mainly used in a more scientific way, though, to talk about the dormancy some animals go through in the winter in order to save valuable energy or the dormancy of certain plants during a dry season. Other things that are temporarily inactive, like volcanoes, also experience dormancy.

Example Sentences

Dormancy also helps some disease-causing germs evade attack; waking them early could improve treatments, so “there’s a lot of applied interest in how to get spores to germinate rapidly,” Setlow adds.

From Scientific American • Dec. 29, 2022

Dormancy is a “virtual metabolic standstill,” wrote Capon, who died last year but was a professor of botany at California State University, Los Angeles, for decades.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 2, 2022

Dormancy can allow for long-distance seed dispersal, making it possible for seeds to germinate under more ideal conditions.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Dormancy comes only after the first frost sufficiently heavy to kill the leaves, usually about two months after nut harvest is completed.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948 by Northern Nut Growers Association