dormant en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (New-Jersey) audio
- /ˈdoːmənt/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- /ˈdoɹmənt/ (Canada, General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈdɔːmənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin dormiēns, present participle of dormiō (“to sleep”).
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) Inactive, sleeping, asleep, suspended.
It is by lying dormant a long time, or being at first very rarely exercised, that arbitrary power steals upon a people.
1777, Edmund Burke, A Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, on the Affairs of America; republished in The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, volume 2, 1864, page 10:This volcano is dormant but not extinct.
The repression at Tiananmen Square dealt a serious but not fatal blow to the pro-democracy movement. It has been forced to lie dormant until a future moment of opportunity. As the revolutions in Eastern Europe proved, however, that moment will eventually come.
1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 179:Thresher maws are subterranean carnivores that spend their entire lives eating or searching for something to eat. Threshers reproduce via spores that lie dormant for millennia, yet are robust enough to survive prolonged periods in deep space and atmospheric re-entry. As a result, thresher spores appear on many worlds, spread by previous generations of space travelers.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Thresher Maws Codex entry:A dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of public media and the trust audiences place in it, and potentially subjecting staff and board members to legal exposure from bad-faith actors.”
2026 January 5, Michael Schneider, “Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Shut Down After 58 Years Due to Trump Eliminating Funding”, in Variety, archived from the original on 07 Jan 2026:Grass goes dormant during the winter, waiting for spring before it grows again.
The bank account was dormant; there had been no transactions in months.
-
(not-comparable) In a sleeping posture; distinguished from couchant.
a lion dormant
- (not-comparable) Leaning.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dormient | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| dormaunt | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Antonyms
active (antonym(s) of) · extinct · antonym(s) of “inactive · suspended”
Deriveds
undormant · dormantory · hyperdormant · quasidormant · dormantly · nondormant · dormant window · endodormant · superdormant · antidormant · paradormant · ecodormant · dormant volcano · semidormant
Relateds
dormition · dormancy · dormitive · dormitory · dorm
Synonyms
quiescent (inactive, suspended)
Translations (45)
bg латентен (inactive, asleep, suspended) · cmn 休眠 (inactive, asleep, suspended) · el κοιμώμενος (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ru усну́вший (inactive, asleep, suspended) · gl dormente (inactive, asleep, suspended) · de inaktiv (inactive, asleep, suspended) · eo dormanta (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ru лате́нтный (inactive, asleep, suspended) · pt dormente (inactive, asleep, suspended) · es durmiente (inactive, asleep, suspended) · hi निष्क्रिय (inactive, asleep, suspended) · bg спящ (inactive, asleep, suspended) · el κοιμισμένος (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ro suspendat (inactive, asleep, suspended) · mi maurinoho (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fr endormi (inactive, asleep, suspended) · id terbengkalai (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ja 休眠中の (inactive, asleep, suspended) · hu alvó (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fa غنوده (inactive, asleep, suspended) · bg неактивен (inactive, asleep, suspended) · da hvilende (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ca latent (inactive, asleep, suspended) · el αδρανής (inactive, asleep, suspended) · da sovende (inactive, asleep, suspended) · dsb spicy (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fi horroksessa oleva (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ro inactiv (inactive, asleep, suspended) · pl uśpiony (inactive, asleep, suspended) · pt inativo (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fa خفته (inactive, asleep, suspended) · gd dìomhair (inactive, asleep, suspended) · nl latent (inactive, asleep, suspended) · nl niet actief (inactive, asleep, suspended) · cmn 睡眠狀態的 /睡眠状态的 (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ru неакти́вный (inactive, asleep, suspended) · da slumrende (inactive, asleep, suspended) · nb sovende (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ru спя́щий (inactive, asleep, suspended) · hu szunnyadó (inactive, asleep, suspended) · nl slapend (inactive, asleep, suspended) · de schlafend (inactive, asleep, suspended) · ja 休止中の (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fr inactif (inactive, asleep, suspended) · fr dormant (inactive, asleep, suspended)