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Perspective
passive
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.
Pronunciation
Adjective
passive (comparative more passive, superlative most passive)
- Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
- Taking no action.
- He remained passive during the protest.
- (grammar) Being in the passive voice.
- (psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
- (finance) Not participating in management.
- (aviation) Without motive power.
- a passive balloon
- a passive aeroplane
- passive flight, such as gliding and soaring
- (electronics) Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
- (in "passive provision") Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
- Antonym: active
- 2021 May 5, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Heathrow Western Rail Access scheme 'on hold'”, in RAIL, number 930, page 26:
- There would be a shuttle service of four trains an hour from Reading, where the rebuilt station also has passive provision for the trains.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
- activo-passive
- endopassive
- exopassive
- long passive
- neutropassive
- passive-aggressive
- passive aggressor
- passive armour
- passive box
- passive defense
- passive-dependent
- passive euthanasia
- passive gravitational mass
- passive immunity
- passive income
- passive investor
- passive iron
- passive learning
- passively
- passive matrix
- passiveness
- passive participle
- passive photolocation
- passive radar
- passive resistance
- passive resister
- passive restraint
- passive smoke
- passive smoker
- passive smoking
- passive solar
- passive vape
- passive vaper
- passive vaping
- passive vaporing
- passive vapouring
- passive vocabulary
- passive voice
- passivity
- passivization
- passivize
Related terms
Translations
not active, but acted upon
|
taking no action
|
grammar: being in the passive voice
|
psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
passive (plural passives)
- (grammar) The passive voice of verbs.
- (grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
- (marketing) A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.
- 2014, Roy Barnes, Bob Kelleher, Customer Experience For Dummies, page 266:
- If you want to improve your organization's NPS, you need to follow up with your detractors, passives, and promoters to understand why they answered your question as they did and what you can do better in the future.
- (electronics) Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
- 2001, The Virginia Engineer, volume 50, page 20:
- Reductions In Both Size And Weight Offered By Integrated Passives
You may not know it yet, but if you're like most consumers, you want integrated passives.
- 2010, Sridhar Canumalla, Puligandla Viswanadham, Portable Consumer Electronics: Packaging, Materials, and Reliability:
- The components include active devices such as logic, memory, processors, etc.; passives such as capacitors, resistors, crystal oscillators, inductances, etc.; […]
- (gaming) Ellipsis of passive attack.
- A thing whose worth decreases with time.
Derived terms
Translations
passive voice — see passive voice
Further reading
- “passive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “passive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Anagrams
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French
Pronunciation
Adjective
passive
Verb
passive
- inflection of passiver:
German
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Adjective
passive
- inflection of passiv:
Italian
Pronunciation
Adjective
passive
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [pasˈsiː.weː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [pasˈsiː.ve]
Adverb
passīvē (not comparable)
Middle English
Adjective
passive
- alternative form of passyf
Noun
passive
- alternative form of passyf
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