quiescence

American  

[kwee-es-uhns, kwahy-] / kwiˈɛs əns, kwaɪ- /

Rarely quiescency

noun

1. quietness or stillness; inactivity or dormancy.

   After a year of apparent quiescence, the region’s cities have once again erupted into street demonstrations.

2. Biology, the state of producing no symptoms; remission, as of a disease, tumor, or other disorder.

   Periodontal disease may be characterized by episodes of activity followed by periods of relative quiescence.

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Etymology

Origin of quiescence

First recorded in 1620–30; from Late Latin quiescentia “rest,” from Latin quiescent-, stem of quiescēns ( quiescent ( def. ) ) + -ia ( def. )

Explanation

If there's a particular time of day when your ten kittens settle down to nap, you can call that their period of quiescence, or the time when they are all quiet and restful. The noun quiescence looks similar to the word "quiet" for a good reason: quiescence is a quiet spell or state. It's used often to mean "dormancy," or the quieting of a symptom or a disease, such as the quiescence of a child's asthma symptoms during the winter months. The Latin root word is quies, which means "rest or quiet."

Example Sentences

"One fact is conclusive proof of the quiescence of the middle class - that hardly any officials resigned in protest against the Emergency," writes historian Ramachandra Guha in his book India After Gandhi.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2025

Second, and crucially, it intimidates opponents into silence and quiescence.

From Slate • Dec. 6, 2024

Interestingly, retinoids did not operate on their own: their interplay with signaling molecules such as BMP and WNT influenced whether the stem cells should maintain quiescence or actively engage in regrowing hair.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2024

Some 800 years ago, between the years 1210 and 1240, sporadic fissure eruptions took place across Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula—a period of activity that was followed by a long period of quiescence.

From National Geographic • Jan. 17, 2024

I answered miserably that the disease hath a period of quiescence before it blooms.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson