sedentary definition | Dictionary.com

sed⋅en⋅tar⋅y

[sed-n-ter-ee]

–adjective

1.	characterized by or requiring a sitting posture: a sedentary occupation.

2.	accustomed to sit or rest a great deal or to take little exercise.

Chiefly Zoology.

a.	abiding in one place; not migratory.

b.	pertaining to animals that move about little or are permanently attached to something, as a barnacle.

Origin:
1590–1600; < L sedentārius sitting, equiv. to sedent- (s. of sedēns, prp. of sedēre to sit ¹ ; see -ent ) + -ārius -ary

Related forms:

sed⋅en⋅tar⋅i⋅ly [sed-n-tair-uh-lee, sed-n-ter-]

, adjective

sed⋅en⋅tar⋅i⋅ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To sedentary

sed·en·tar·y (sěd'n-těr'ē)

adj.

Characterized by or requiring much sitting: a sedentary job.
Accustomed to sitting or to taking little exercise.
Remaining or living in one area, as certain birds; not migratory.
Attached to a surface and not moving freely, as a barnacle.

[French sédentaire, from Old French, from Latin sedentārius, from sedēns, sedent-, present participle of sedēre, to sit; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]
sed'en·tar'i·ly (-târ'ə-lē) adv., sed'en·tar'i·ness 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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Sedentary

Sed"en*ta*ry\, a. [L. sedentarius, fr. sedere to sit: cf. F. se['e]dentaire. See Sedent.]

1. Accustomed to sit much or long; as, a sedentary man. "Sedentary, scholastic sophists." --Bp. Warburton.

2. Characterized by, or requiring, much sitting; as, a sedentary employment; a sedentary life.

Any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect. --Beaconsfield.

3. Inactive; motionless; sluggish; hence, calm; tranquil. [R.] "The sedentary earth." --Milton.

The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss, sedentary nature. --Spectator.

4. Caused by long sitting. [Obs.] "Sedentary numbness." --Milton.

5. (Zo["o]l.) Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object; as, the oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.

Sedentary spider (Zo["o]l.), one of a tribe of spiders which rest motionless until their prey is caught in their web.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sedentary

Spanish: sedentario,

German: sitzend,

Japanese: すわってする

More Translations »

sedentary

1598, "remaining in one place," from M.Fr. sedentaire, from L. sedentarius "sitting, remaining in one place," from sedentem (nom. sedens), prp. of sedere "to sit," from PIE base *sed- "to sit" (cf. Skt. a-sadat "sat down," sidati "sits;" O.Pers. hadis "abode;" Gk. ezesthai "to sit," hedra "seat, chair, face of a geometric solid;" O.Ir. suide "seat, sitting;" Welsh sedd "seat," eistedd "sitting;" O.C.S. sezda, sedeti "to sit;" Lith. sedmi "to sit;" Rus. sad "garden," Lith. soditi "to plant;" Goth. sitan, O.E. sittan "to sit;" see sit). Of persons, meaning "not in the habit of exercise" is recorded from 1662.

Main Entry: sed·en·tary
Pronunciation: 'sed-^&n-"ter-E
Function: adjective
: doing or requiring much sitting : characterized by a lack of physical activity sedentary jobs>

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