quiescent

[kwee-es-uhnt, kwahy-]

See more synonyms for quiescent on Thesaurus.com

adjective

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

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

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

Can be confusedquiescent quiet

Synonyms for quiescent

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

dormant, latent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for quiescent

asleep, dormant, fallow, idle, immobile, inert, inoperative, latent, motionless, passive, quiet, stagnant, still, slumbering

Examples from the Web for quiescent

Contemporary Examples of 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
Egypt is no longer the quiescent subordinate partner it once was.
Arab League Urges Palestinian-Israelis To Vote
Ahmed Moor
January 21, 2013

Historical Examples of quiescent

The Garden City seems to be in a quiescent state at present.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 8, May 21, 1870
Various
It befitted the day, a day outwardly so quiescent, yet in which so much was going on.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
The disease is overcome, quiescent; the wound is healed over.
The Straw
Eugene O'Neill
Here we saw what Rome was in action, whatever she might be when quiescent.
Apologia Pro Vita Sua
John Henry Cardinal Newman
What an awakening from this quiescent state was hers this day!
Deerbrook
Harriet Martineau

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

adj.

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