latency

[leyt-n-see]

noun

plural

latencies 

1. the state of being latent.

2. latent period.

3. Computers.,  the period of delay when one component of a hardware system is waiting for an action to be executed by another component.

4. Digital Technology.,  the time required online or in a network for the one-way or round-trip transfer of data between two nodes.

5. Digital Technology.,  (in virtual reality and other types of simulation) the discrepancy between the time delay of stimulus and response in the simulation as compared to the real-world equivalent.

Word History and Origins

Origin of latency¹

First recorded in 1630–40; lat(ent) + -ency

Example Sentences

The AI processing cabinets are jammed in together to eliminate this element of latency and create what the tech sector calls parallel processing, operating as one enormous computer.

From BBC

With their long latency periods - time between exposure to a cancer-causing factor and the appearance of detectable cancer - treatment outcomes are relatively good.

From BBC

An update posted on the Microsoft website on Saturday said that Azure traffic going through the Middle East "may experience increased latency due to undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea".

From BBC

And by the time that the conscious recognition of that has happened, which is around 300 milliseconds … Then the onset latency should be at least that amount of time, if not even more.”

From Salon

"We stay in the optical domain the whole time, until the end when we want to read out the answer. This enables us to achieve ultra-low latency," Bandyopadhyay says.

From Science Daily