passive

EnglishEdit

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Passive

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.

PronunciationEdit

(UK, US) enPR: păsʹ-ĭv, IPA^(key): /ˈpæs.ɪv/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -æsɪv
Hyphenation: pas‧sive

AdjectiveEdit

passive (comparative more passive, superlative most passive)

Examples (being in the passive voice)
The passive form of “A meteorite hit the earth” is “The earth was hit by a meteorite.”

Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
Taking no action.
He remained passive during the protest.
(grammar) Being in the passive voice.
(psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
(finance) Not participating in management.
(aviation) Without motive power.
a passive balloon; a passive aeroplane; passive flight, such as gliding and soaring
(electronics) Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
(passive provision) Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
- 2021 May 5, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Heathrow Western Rail Access scheme 'on hold'”, in RAIL, number 930, page 26:
  There would be a shuttle service of four trains an hour from Reading, where the rebuilt station also has passive provision for the trains.
Antonym: active

SynonymsEdit

AntonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

not active, but acted upon

Belarusian: пасы́ўны (pasýŭny)
Bulgarian: паси́вен (bg) (pasíven)
Catalan: passiu (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 消極／消极 (zh) (xiāojí)
Czech: pasivní (cs)
Dutch: passief (nl)
Estonian: loid
Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
French: passive (fr), passif (fr) m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: passiv (de)
Greek:
Ancient: παθητικός (pathētikós)
Hungarian: passzív (hu)
Italian: passivo (it)
Japanese: 受動的 (じゅどうてき, judōteki), 受け身 (うけみ, ukemi)
Lithuanian: pasyvus
Middle English: passyf
Persian: منفعل‎ (fa) (monfa'el), پاسیو‎ (fa) (pâsiv)
Polish: bierny (pl) m
Portuguese: passivo (pt)
Romanian: pasiv (ro) m or n
Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
Slovak: pasívny
Spanish: pasivo (es)
Swedish: passiv (sv)
Ukrainian: паси́вний (uk) (pasývnyj)
Vietnamese: bị động (vi)

taking no action

Bulgarian: бездеен (bg) (bezdeen)
Dutch: passief (nl)
Estonian: loid
Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
German: passiv (de)
Middle English: passyf
Norwegian: passiv (no)
Persian: پاسیو‎ (fa) (pâsiv)
Polish: bierny (pl) m
Portuguese: passivo (pt)
Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj), безде́ятельный (ru) (bezdéjatelʹnyj)
Slovak: pasívny, nečinný
Swedish: passiv (sv)
Vietnamese: thụ động (vi)

grammar: being in the passive voice

Albanian: pësor (sq)
Arabic: مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَجْهُول‎ (mabniyyun lilmajhūl)
Armenian: կրավորական (hy) (kravorakan)
Azerbaijani: məchul (az)
Belarusian: зале́жны (zaljéžny), пасы́ўны (pasýŭny)
Bulgarian: страда́телен (bg) (stradátelen), паси́вен (bg) (pasíven)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 被動／被动 (zh) (bèidòng)
Czech: trpný
Danish: passiv
Dutch: lijdend (nl), lijdelijk (nl), passief (nl)
Estonian: passiiv
Finnish: passiivinen (fi), passiivimuotoinen
French: passif (fr)
German: leidend (de), leidentlich, passiv (de), passivisch (de)
Greek: παθητική (el) (pathitikí)
Ancient: παθητικός (pathētikós)
Hungarian: szenvedő (hu)
Irish: céasta
Italian: passivo (it)
Japanese: 受動態 (ja) (じゅどうたい, judōtai)
Kannada: ಕರ್ಮಣಿ (karmaṇi)
Korean: 수동태 (ko) (sudongtae)
Macedonian: пасивен (pasiven)
Middle English: passyf
Norwegian: passiv (no)
Persian: مجهول‎ (fa) (majhul)
Polish: bierny (pl) m
Portuguese: passivo (pt)
Russian: страда́тельный (ru) (stradátelʹnyj), пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: fulangach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: трпни, пасиван

Roman: trpni (sh), pasivan (sh)
Slovak: trpný
Slovene: trpen, pasiven
Swedish: passiv (sv)
Turkish: edilgen (tr), pasif (tr)
Ukrainian: паси́вний (uk) (pasývnyj)
Vietnamese: bị động (vi)

psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship

Chinese:
Mandarin: 被動／被动 (zh) (bèidòng)
Dutch: passief (nl)
Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
German: unterwürfig
Italian: passivo (it)
Navajo: hoołtsoodii
Portuguese: passivo (pt)
Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
Slovak: pasívny
Spanish: pasivo (es)
Turkish: pasif (tr)

finance: not bearing interest

Dutch: passief (nl)
Finnish: koroton (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: passivo (it)
Romanian: pasiv (ro), supus (ro)
Spanish: pasivo (es)

NounEdit

passive (plural passives)

(grammar) The passive voice of verbs.
(grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
(marketing) A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.
- 2014, Roy Barnes, Bob Kelleher, Customer Experience For Dummies (page 266)
  If you want to improve your organization's NPS, you need to follow up with your detractors, passives, and promoters to understand why they answered your question as they did and what you can do better in the future.
(electronics) Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
- 2001, The Virginia Engineer (volume 50, page 20)
  Reductions In Both Size And Weight Offered By Integrated Passives
  You may not know it yet, but if you're like most consumers, you want integrated passives.
- 2010, Sridhar Canumalla, Puligandla Viswanadham, Portable Consumer Electronics: Packaging, Materials, and Reliability
  The components include active devices such as logic, memory, processors, etc.; passives such as capacitors, resistors, crystal oscillators, inductances, etc.; […]