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dormancy

 - 3 dictionary results

dor⋅man⋅cy

  [dawr-muhn-see]
Use dormancy in a Sentence
–noun
the state of being dormant.
Origin:
1780–90; dorm(ant) + -ancy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dor·mant   (dôr'mənt)   
adj.  

  1. Lying asleep or as if asleep; inactive.

  2. Latent but capable of being activated: "a harrowing experience which . . . lay dormant but still menacing" (Charles Jackson).

  3. Temporarily quiescent: a dormant volcano. See Synonyms at inactive, latent.

  4. In a condition of biological rest or inactivity characterized by cessation of growth or development and the suspension of many metabolic processes.


[Middle English, from Old French, from present participle of dormir, to sleep, from Latin dormīre.]
dor'man·cy n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

dormancy

state of reduced metabolic activity adopted by many organisms under conditions of environmental stress or, often, as in winter, when such stressful conditions are likely to appear.

Learn more about dormancy with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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