dormant

Definitions


[ˈdɔːm(ə)nt], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- (of an animal) having normal physical functions suspended or slowed down for a period of time; in or as if in a deep sleep
(e.g: dormant butterflies)

- temporarily inactive or inoperative
(e.g: that dormant urge to write fiction has re-emerged)

- (of an animal) depicted lying with its head on its paws


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English (in the senses ‘fixed in position’ and ‘latent’): from Old French, ‘sleeping’, present participle of dormir, from Latin dormire ‘to sleep’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries