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Origin and history of dormancy

dormancy(n.)

1723, state of being dormant, quiescence;" see dormant + -cy. Middle English had dormitacioun "sleep, sleeping" (mid-15c.)

also from 1723

Entries linking to dormancy

dormant(adj.)

late 14c., "fixed in place," from Old French dormant (12c.), present participle of dormir "to sleep," from Latin dormire "to sleep," from PIE root *drem- "to sleep" (source also of Old Church Slavonic dremati "to sleep, doze," Greek edrathon "I slept," Sanskrit drati "sleeps").

Meaning "in a resting situation, lying down with the head on the forepaws" (in heraldry, of beasts) is from c. 1500. Meaning "sleeping, asleep" is from 1620s. General sense of "in a state of rest or inactivity" is from c. 1600. Of volcanoes from 1760.

The Neapolitans are never so much afraid of this fiery Mountain as when its Flames lie, as 'twere, dormant ; for then it is that they live in constant Fear of a fresh huge Eruption, or, much worse, an Earthquake. [from the entry for "Vesuvius" in Brice's "Grand Gazetter Or Topographic Dictionary," 1760]
-cy

abstract noun suffix of quality or rank, from Latin -cia, -tia, from Greek -kia, -tia, from abstract ending -ia (see -ia) + stem ending -c- or -t-. The native correspondents are -ship, -hood.

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    Trends of dormancy

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    sleeping
    c. 1300, present-participle adjective from sleep (v.). Sleeping Beauty (1729) is Perrault's La belle au bois dormant. Sleeping has been used since late 14c. to indicate diseases marked by morbid conditions. It is ill wakyng of a sleapyng dogge. [Heywood, 1562] It is nought goo
    rest
    [sleep, repose, slumber] Old English ræste, reste "rest; a bed or couch; intermission of labor; mental peace, state of quiet or repose," from Proto-Germanic *rasto- (source also of Old Saxon resta "resting place, burial-place," Dutch rust, Old High German rasta, German Rast "rest
    slumber
    mid-14c., slomberen, "doze, drowse, sleep lightly," an alteration of slumeren (mid-13c.), frequentative form of slumen "to doze," which is probably from Old English sluma "light sleep" (compare Middle Dutch slumen, Dutch sluimeren, Middle Low German slummern "become drowsy," Germ
    hibernation
    1660s, "action of passing the winter" (of plants, insect eggs, etc.), from Latin hibernationem (nominative hibernatio) "the action of passing the winter," noun of action from past participle stem of hibernare "to winter, pass the winter, occupy winter quarters;" related to hiems
    ease
    c. 1200, "physical comfort, undisturbed state of the body; tranquility, peace of mind," from Old French aise "comfort, pleasure, well-being; opportunity," which is of uncertain origin. According to Watkins is ultimately from Latin adiacens "lying at," present participle of adiace
    repose
    "lie or be at rest," mid-15c., reposen, "rest (oneself)," from Old French reposer, earlier repauser (10c.), from Late Latin repausare "cause to rest," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + pausare "to stop" (see pause (v.)). Related: Reposed; reposing...."to put
    relaxation
    late 14c., relaxacioun, "a rupture, a hernia" (a sense now obsolete); mid-15c., "remission of a burden or penalty," from Old French relaxacion (14c.) and directly from Latin relaxationem (nominative relaxatio) "an easing, mitigation, relaxation," noun of action from past-particip
    disaster
    "anything that befalls of ruinous or distressing nature; any unfortunate event," especially a sudden or great misfortune, 1590s, from French désastre (1560s), from Italian disastro, literally "ill-starred," from dis-, here merely pejorative, equivalent to English mis- "ill" (see
    issue
    c. 1300, "an exit," from Old French issue "a way out, a going out, exit; final event," from fem. past participle of issir "to go out," from Latin exire "go out, go forth; become public; flow, gush, pour forth" (source also of Italian uscire, Catalan exir), from ex- "out" (see ex-
    hatch
    early 13c., hachen, "to produce young from eggs by incubation," probably from an unrecorded Old English *hæccan, of unknown origin, related to Middle High German, German hecken "to mate" (used of birds). Meaning "to come forth from an egg," also "cause to come forth from an egg"

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