QUIESCENCE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quiescence mean? 

• QUIESCENCE (noun)
  The noun QUIESCENCE has 2 senses:

1. a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction

2. quiet and inactive restfulness

  Familiarity information: QUIESCENCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUIESCENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency

Context example:

the volcano erupted after centuries of dormancy

Hypernyms ("quiescence" is a kind of...):

inaction; inactiveness; inactivity (the state of being inactive)

Attribute:

dormant; inactive ((of e.g. volcanos) not erupting and not extinct)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quiescence"):

hibernation (cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals)

aestivation; estivation ((zoology) cessation or slowing of activity during the summer; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals during a hot or dry period)

slumber (a dormant or quiescent state)

Derivation:

quiescent (not active or activated)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Quiet and inactive restfulness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency; sleeping

Hypernyms ("quiescence" is a kind of...):

ease; relaxation; repose; rest (freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quiescence"):

vegetation (inactivity that is passive and monotonous, comparable to the inactivity of plant life)

Derivation:

quiescent (marked by a state of tranquil repose)

 Context examples 

He never omitted the ceremony afterwards, and the gravity and quiescence with which I underwent it, seemed to invest it for him with a certain charm.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

If Miss Ingram had been a good and noble woman, endowed with force, fervour, kindness, sense, I should have had one vital struggle with two tigers—jealousy and despair: then, my heart torn out and devoured, I should have admired her—acknowledged her excellence, and been quiet for the rest of my days: and the more absolute her superiority, the deeper would have been my admiration—the more truly tranquil my quiescence.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A reception of finished politeness would probably have confused me: I could not have returned or repaid it by answering grace and elegance on my part; but harsh caprice laid me under no obligation; on the contrary, a decent quiescence, under the freak of manner, gave me the advantage.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A sort of instinct seemed to warn him of her entrance, even when he did not see it; and when he was looking quite away from the door, if she appeared at it, his cheek would glow, and his marble-seeming features, though they refused to relax, changed indescribably, and in their very quiescence became expressive of a repressed fervour, stronger than working muscle or darting glance could indicate.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)