Wiktionary

quiescent

English

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WOTD – 10 March 2016

Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin quiēscēns, quiēscentem.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kwaɪˈɛsənt/, /kwɪˈɛsənt/, [kwaɪ̯ˈɛsn̩t], [kwiˈɛsn̩t]
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: qui‧es‧cent
  • Rhymes: -ɛsənt

Adjective

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quiescent (comparative more quiescent, superlative most quiescent)

  1. Inactive, quiet, at rest.
    (inactive): Synonyms: dormant, torpid; see also Thesaurus:inactive
    (quiet, at rest): Synonyms: calm, still, tranquil; see also Thesaurus:calm
    The bats were quiescent at that time of day, so we slowly entered the cave.
    • 1840, John Wilson, “On the Genius and Character of Burns”, in John Wilson; Robert Chambers, The Land of Burns, a Series of Landscapes and Portraits, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of the Scottish Poet. The Landscapes from Paintings made Expressly for the Work, by D[avid] O[ctavius] Hill, Esq., R.S.A. The Literary Department, by Professor Wilson, of the University of Edinburgh; and Robert Chambers, Esq., Author of the “Scottish Biographical Dictionary,” “Picture of Scotland,” Etc. Etc., volume II, 2nd edition, Glasgow: Blackie & Son, Queen Street, Glasgow; South College Street, Edinburgh; and Warwick Square, London, OCLC 314762618, page ci:
      In times of national security, the feeling of Patriotism among the masses is so quiescent that it seems hardly to exist—in their case national glory or national danger awakens it, and it leaps up armed cap-a-pie.
    • 1955 February, “Notes and News: Arresting an Earth Slip at Uxbridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:
      Movement was then observed in a part of the wall which had been quiescent, and another group of struts was therefore constructed, again during traffic hours as well as at night.
    • 2020 October 15, Frank Pasquale, “‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      After all, nations are pouring massive resources into military applications of AI, and many citizens don’t know or don’t care. Yet that quiescent attitude may change over time, as the domestic use of AI surveillance ratchets up, and that technology is increasingly identified with shadowy apparatuses of control, rather than democratically accountable local powers.
    • 2025 June 14, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, “James Blake's fight against ‘free music’”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 12:
      “It's like the opposite of punk, isn't it?” he said jokingly in 2016 while discussing his influence on other musicians. “I've subdued a generation.” But [James] Blake is not so quiescent after all.
  2. (orthography) Not sounded; silent.
    Synonym: servile
    The k is quiescent in "knight" and "know".
  3. (cytology) Non-proliferating.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Latin

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Verb

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quiēscent

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of quiēscō
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