Dormant
/ˈdɔːr.mənt/noun
Inactive, sleeping, or temporarily not in use.
Did you know?Dormant entered English through Old French from Latin *dormire* (“to sleep”), and its meaning spread from sleeping bodies to sleeping volcanoes, genes, and buried forces.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*drem-
“to sleep”
Latin
Latin
dormire
“to sleep”
Old French
Old French
dormant
“sleeping; inactive”
Middle English
English
dormant
“sleeping; lying down”
Modern English
English
dormant
“inactive, temporarily not active”