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dormant

Etymology and origin of the English word dormant

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From
Old French dormant

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdɔːmənt/ (UK); /ˈdoɹmənt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English dormaunt,[2][3][4] from Old French dormant,[5][2][6][3] present participle of dormir “to sleep”,[5][2][6][3][4] from Latin dormire (“to sleep”).[5][2][6][3][4] It is related to dormitory.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fixed in place, stationary, as of a table fixed to the floor (c. 1386 in the OED; about 1387–95 in Barnhart).[7][2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In heraldry the word described a beast lying asleep with its head on its forepaws (c. 1500).[7][6][3] The general sense of being at rest or inactive is from about 1600,[6][7] and the sense “sleeping, asleep” from the 1620s.[6][7] Etymonline dates its use of volcanoes to 1760.[6] In biology it describes animals and plants whose activity or growth is suspended.[7][5][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – fixed, stationary.[7][2]
  • c. 1500 – (heraldry) lying asleep.[7][6][3]
  • 1601 – inactive, in abeyance.[7]
  • 1623 – sleeping.[7][6]
  • 1760 – of volcanoes.[6]
  • 1772 – of animals, with life suspended.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Asleep or as if asleep; inactive.
  2. Latent but able to become active.
  3. Of a volcano, not erupting but not extinct.
  4. (biology) In a resting state, with growth and many metabolic processes suspended.
  5. (heraldry) Shown lying asleep with the head on the forepaws.

Word family

  • dormancy
  • nondormant
  • semidormant
  • dorm
  • dormitory
  • dormer
  • dormouse

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Dormant.” Etymologically, 14 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dormant. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·