passive : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: passive	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for passive
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
passive adj lacking in energy or will; "Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself"- George Meredith Synonym(s): passive, inactive Antonym(s): active peacefully resistant in response to injustice; "passive resistance" Synonym(s): passive, peaceful expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb; "academics seem to favor passive sentences" Antonym(s): active n the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb; "`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice"; "`The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive" Synonym(s): passive voice, passive Antonym(s): active, active voice
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Passive \Pas"sive\, a. [L. passivus: cf. F. passif. See {Passion}.] 1. Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene. The passive air Upbore their nimble tread. --Milton. The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas. --Locke. 2. Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission. The best virtue, passive fortitude. --Massinger. 3. (Chem.) Inactive; inert; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive. 4. (Med.) Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues. {Passive congestion} (Med.), congestion due to obstruction to the return of the blood from the affected part. {Passive iron} (Chem.), iron which has been subjected to the action of heat, of strong nitric acid, chlorine, etc. It is then not easily acted upon by acids. {Passive movement} (Med.), a movement of a part, in order to exercise it, made without the assistance of the muscles which ordinarily move the part. {Passive obedience} (as used by writers on government), obedience or submission of the subject or citizen as a duty in all cases to the existing government. {Passive prayer}, among mystic divines, a suspension of the activity of the soul or intellectual faculties, the soul remaining quiet, and yielding only to the impulses of grace. {Passive verb}, [or] {Passive voice} (Gram.), a verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action of some agent; as, in Latin, doceor, I am taught; in English, she is loved; the picture is admired by all; he is assailed by slander. Syn: Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient.