sedentary en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈsɛd.ən.tɹi/ (UK)
- /ˈsɛd.ən.tə.ɹi/ (UK)
- /ˈsɛd.ən.tɛɹ.i/ (US)
Etymology
From Middle French sédentaire, from Latin sedentārius (“sitting”), from sedeō (“to sit, to be seated”).
Meanings
-
Not moving; relatively still; staying in the vicinity.
The oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.
-
Of a human population, living in a fixed geographical location.
.
-
Of a job, lifestyle, etc., not moving much; sitting around; inactive.
There is, however, a gap between the athletic games that were played by large groups of men and the sedentary games that are confined to a few players, which I find it difficult to bridge.
1952, H[arold] J[ames] R[uthven] Murray, “The Distribution and Origin of Board-Games”, in A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess, Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 233:[…]the Egyptians; whose Sages were not sedentary, scholastic Sophists, like the Grecian[…]
1765 [1738], Bishop William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses Demonstrated, page 220:[…]that any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect, that the body as well as the mind should be cultivated[…]
1844 October 3, Benjamin Disraeli, The Acquirement of Knowledge, An address delivered to the members of the Manchester Athenæum:
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(obsolete) Inactive; motionless; sluggish; tranquil.
Such restless revolution day by day Repeated, while the sedentary earth That better might with far less compass move[…]
1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:The Soul, considered abstractedly from its Passions, is of a remiss and sedentary Nature, slow in its Resolves, and languishing in its Executions.
1711 December 22, Joseph Addison, “No. 255”, in The Spectator:
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(obsolete) Caused by long sitting.
till length of years And sedentary numbness craze my limbs To a contemptible old age obscure.
1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, lines 569-571:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most sedentary | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more sedentary | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
migratory (antonym(s) of “living in a fixed geographical location”) · antonym(s) of · nomadic · antonym(s) of
Deriveds
nonsedentary · endosedentary · unsedentary · sedentarism · sedentarily · sedentariness · sedentarization · semisedentary
Synonyms
non-migratory (living in a fixed geographical location) · cessant · chairborne (sitting around) · dormant · torpid · motionless · settled (living in a fixed geographical location) · sitsome (sitting around) · immobile (not moving) · abeyant (inactive)
Translations (60)
tr sedanter (not moving much; sitting around) · be асе́лы (not moving, not migratory) · es sedentario (not moving, not migratory) · ru осе́длый (not moving, not migratory) · fr sédentaire (not moving much; sitting around) · io sedentaria (not moving, not migratory) · kk отырықшы (not moving, not migratory) · ko 앉은 (not moving much; sitting around) · is kyrrsetu- (not moving much; sitting around) · tr tembel (not moving much; sitting around) · pt sedentário (not moving, not migratory) · id sambil duduk (not moving, not migratory) · ca sedentari (not moving much; sitting around) · de ortsgebunden (not moving, not migratory) · sv stillasittande (not moving much; sitting around) · nl sedentair (not moving much; sitting around) · el καθιστικός (not moving much; sitting around) · ro sedentar (not moving, not migratory) · cs usedlý (not moving, not migratory) · az oturaq (not moving, not migratory) · fi istuma- (not moving much; sitting around) · pt sedentário (not moving much; sitting around) · ko 앉은뱅이 (not moving much; sitting around) · bg непрелетен (not moving, not migratory) · tr sedanter (not moving, not migratory) · ru сидя́чий (not moving much; sitting around) · de sesshaft (not moving, not migratory) · hu helyhez kötött (not moving, not migratory) · ca sedentari (not moving, not migratory) · id sedenter (not moving, not migratory) · cmn 定居的 (not moving, not migratory) · hu ülő (not moving much; sitting around) · bg заседнал (not moving much; sitting around) · uk осі́лий (not moving, not migratory) · nb stillesittende (not moving much; sitting around) · fi vähän liikkuva (not moving, not migratory) · ko 정착성 (not moving, not migratory) · ar حَضَرِيّ (not moving, not migratory) · id sedenter (not moving much; sitting around) · ro sedentar (not moving much; sitting around) · bg седящ (not moving much; sitting around) · is hreyfingarleysis- (not moving much; sitting around) · pl osiadły (not moving, not migratory) · nb sedat (not moving much; sitting around) · ru малоподви́жный (not moving much; sitting around) · cs sedavý (not moving much; sitting around) · bg уседнал (not moving, not migratory) · fi paikallaan pysyvä (not moving much; sitting around) · it sedentario (not moving, not migratory) · nb stillesittende (not moving, not migratory) · fr sédentaire (not moving, not migratory) · pl siedzący (not moving much; sitting around) · de sitzend (not moving much; sitting around) · tr durağan (not moving, not migratory) · te కూర్చున్నట్టు చేసేపని (not moving much; sitting around) · ga neamhaistreach (not moving, not migratory) · nl stilzittend (not moving much; sitting around) · es sedentario (not moving much; sitting around) · nl sedentair (not moving, not migratory) · io sedentaria (not moving much; sitting around)