quiescent

[kwee-es-uhnt, kwahy-]

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adjective

being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless: a quiescent mind.

Nearby words

Origin of quiescent

1600–10; < Latin quiēscent- (stem of quiēscēns, present participle of quiēscere), equivalent to qui-, base meaning “rest, quiet” + -ēsc- inchoative suffix + -ent- -ent

SYNONYMS FOR quiescent

dormant, latent.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quiescent ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsqui·es·cent·ly, adverbqui·es·cence, qui·es·cen·cy, noun

Can be confusedquiescent quiet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for quiescent

Maybe deep in our brains, a few bacteria are nestled near some quiescent virus and a touch of fetal DNA?
Scientists Find Bacteria Where It Isn’t Supposed to Be: The Brain|Amanda Schaffer|March 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Egypt is no longer the quiescent subordinate partner it once was.
Arab League Urges Palestinian-Israelis To Vote|Ahmed Moor|January 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This time it would not insert its sting into the quiescent tarantula, but where there was still life.
The Forgotten Planet|Murray Leinster
Jack, dragged down by pain, and exhausted in the intervals of each paroxysm was quiescent.
Gabriel Conroy|Bert Harte

I was very much fatigued and was quiescent, not caring to stir, for several hours.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 4 [September 1902]|Various
Thus the man seems to have lived an eventful life, when his body was, in fact, quiescent and unconscious.
Sketch of the Mythology of the North American Indians|John Wesley Powell
(Hence rest and motion are properties of gross bodies and not of the intellectual soul, which is ever quiescent).
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, vol. 3 (of 4) part 2 (of 2)|Valmiki

British Dictionary definitions for quiescent

quiescent

adjective

quiet, inactive, or dormant

Derived Formsquiescence or quiescency, nounquiescently, adverb

Word Origin for quiescent

C17: from Latin quiescere to rest

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quiescent

quiescent

adj.

c.1600, from Latin quiescentem (nominative quiescens), present participle of quiescere, inchoative verb formed from quies "rest, quiet" (see quiet (n.)).