- 1潛在的、潛伏的
If something is latent, it is already there, but it is hiding. It may wake up later, or it may only show when the conditions are right. A latent talent is a gift you have not used yet. A latent infection is in the body but not making you ill right now. In science class, latent heat is energy stored in a change of state, not felt as extra warmth on the skin. The tidy meaning is present, but not active and not seen. People sometimes use it loosely for secret or possible; those are nearby, but they leave out the important part — it is not imaginary. It is there. It is a grown-up, slightly scientific word. You would not call a latent. And though the letters look a little like late, they are not the same family: late is about time; latent is about lying hidden.
From the word’s history
From Middle English latent, from Old French latent, from Latin latēns, present participle of lateō 'lie hidden'.
源自拉丁文 latēns，即 lateō「躲藏」的現在分詞。
組成From Latin latēns, from lateō, “lie hidden”. English kept that picture: there, but not in the open.
同家族的字
- latencythe noun for this hidden or waiting state
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
latentadj/ˈleɪ.tənt/
- 1
Existing or present, but concealed or inactive.
- There is known latent demand for rail freight and the rail freight industry is working with Scottish businesses to develop new rail freight services, as environmental concerns are beginning to change the logistics choices of Scottish producers.
- 2
biologymedicinemicrobiologyRemaining in an inactive or hidden phase; dormant.
- 2008 July 2, Joe Palca, “Scientists Make Herpes Breakthrough”, abstract, All Things Considered, National Public Radio Those infected with a herpes virus are infected for life. That’s because the virus goes "latent." Sometimes, it awakes from its slumber, producing painful illnesses.
- 3
biologynatural-sciencesLying dormant or hidden until circumstances are suitable for development or manifestation.
- 4
datedLatently homosexual.
latentnoun/ˈleɪ.tənt/
- 1
The residue left by a person's finger that can be made visible by a process such as powder dusting; a latent fingerprint.
- Once the latent prints have been visualized by the superglue and powder dusting techniques, they should be photographed again. Then the developed latents need to be lifted and placed on backing cards. The latent cards are documented by putting the case number, date and time of lifting, initials of person processing the evidence, and a sketch indicating the location of the lifted latent print on the back of the lift card, as shown in Photo 6.6.
- Paralegal workers do not argue cases in court, and these crimescene fingerprint gatherers do not compare crime-scene latents to known prints of suspects and present their findings in court.
- 2
mathematicssciencesstatisticsAn underlying cause that can be inferred from statistical correlations; factor.
- These kinds of latents define the invariant dispositional properties enabling prediction and control of the external environment. Finally, there are the latents that underlie manifestation as relationships of power, as cause to effect, condition to occurrence, or dependent variable to independent variable.
- That is, the observed covariance between indicator y₁ and y₃ would mirror the understandable causal behavior of the corresponding underlying latents.
- 3
Anything that is latent.
- Even if latents may not be actually detectable in any given situation, they may nevertheless be present in it. Latents may become actual if proper triggering conditions are in place, or they may be lost in the process.
- After we discovered Leah and I realized what she was, the flood gates opened. More and more latents have been discovered, as well as cubs.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。