latent period

American  

noun

1. Pathology. Also the interval between exposure to a carcinogen, toxin, or disease-causing organism and development of a consequent disease.

2. Physiology. the interval between stimulus and reaction.

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latent period British  

noun

1. the incubation period of an infectious disease, before symptoms appear

2. another name for latent time

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latent period Scientific  

1. The interval between exposure to an infectious organism or a carcinogen and the appearance of symptoms or signs of disease.

2. The period elapsing between the application of a stimulus and the expected response, such as the contraction of a muscle.

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Etymology

Origin of latent period

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

The long latent period of most cancers is the time required for the infinite number of cell divisions during which fermentation is gradually increasing after the initial damage to respiration.

From Literature

Most of the experiences and impulses prior to the latent period then fall victim to the infantile amnesia, the forgetting we have already discussed, which cloaks our earliest childhood and makes us strangers to it.

From Project Gutenberg

Microbes differ from each other in terms of their latent period, the period of time between when an individual is exposed and when they become infectious or capable of transmitting the agent to others.

From Scientific American

We don’t typically go around discussing the latent period of carcinogenesis and the amazing advances made in understanding radiobiology.

From New York Times

The latent period for improving oesophageal, pancreatic, brain and lung cancer was about five years of aspirin taking on a daily basis.

From Economist