Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dormant

Dor′mant (·mant), a. [F., p. pr. of dormir to sleep, from L. dormire; cf. Gr. δαρθάνειν, Skr. drā, OSlav. drēmati.] 1. Sleeping; as, a dormant animal; hence, not in action or exercise; quiescent; at rest; in abeyance; not disclosed, asserted, or insisted on; as, dormant passions; dormant claims or titles.

It is by lying dormant a long time, or being . . . very rarely exercised, that arbitrary power steals upon a people. Burke.

2. (Her.) In a sleeping posture; as, a lion dormant; — distinguished from couchant.

Dormant partner (Com.), a partner who takes no share in the active business of a company or partnership, but is entitled to a share of the profits, and subject to a share in losses; — called also sleeping or silent partner. — Dormant window (Arch.), a dormer window. See Dormer. — Table dormant, a stationary table. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Dor′mant (dôr′mant), n. [See Dormant, a.] (Arch.) A large beam in the roof of a house upon which portions of the other timbers rest or " sleep." Arch. Pub. Soc. — Called also dormant tree, dorman tree, dormond, and dormer. Halliwell.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.