noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK, US:/ˈleɪ.tən.si/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:L EY1 T AH0 N S IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Concealment; the state of being latent; the state of being hidden.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Dormancy; the state of being inactive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A delay, an interval between the initiation of something and the occurrence.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
The time delay between a request for data or action and the beginning of the response or execution, often measured to assess system performance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: artificial intelligence
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The delay between a stimulus and the response it triggers in an organism.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, sciences
Examples
period of latency
The disease has a long period of latency.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A stage in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of the psychosexual development of children where children become asexual until their sexual desires come back at puberty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
the state of being not yet evident or active
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: potential, potentiality, potency
8
noun
Meaning 8
the time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: reaction time, response time, latent period
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: time interval, interval
9
noun
Meaning 9
(computer science) the time it takes for a specific block of data on a data track to rotate around to the read/write head
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: rotational latency
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: time interval, interval
History
Etymology
From latent + -ency.
Across languages
Translations
52 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Japanese:
潜在
(senzai)
— hiddenness
Japanese:
秘匿
(hitoku)
— hiddenness
Russian:
скрытость
(skrytostʹ)
— hiddenness
Russian:
незаметность
(nezametnostʹ)
— hiddenness
Japanese:
休眠
(kyūmin)
— inactivity, dormancy
Russian:
латентное состояние
(latentnoje sostojanije)
— inactivity, dormancy
Russian:
скрытая форма
— inactivity, dormancy
Bulgarian:
закъснение
(zakǎsnenie)
— delay
Chinese Mandarin:
延遲 /延迟
(yánchí)
— delay
Czech:
latence
— delay
Czech:
zpoždění
— delay
Dutch:
wachttijd
— delay
Dutch:
vertraging
— delay
Finnish:
latenssi
— delay
Finnish:
viive
— delay
French:
latence
— delay
Galician:
latencia
— delay
German:
Latenz
— delay
German:
Latenzzeit
— delay
German:
Verborgenheit
— delay
German:
Wartezeit
— delay
German:
Verzögerung
— delay
Greek:
υστέρηση
(ystérisi)
— delay
Greek:
καθυστέρηση
(kathystérisi)
— delay
Icelandic:
biðtími
— delay
Italian:
latenza
— delay
Japanese:
遅延
(chien)
— delay
Japanese:
レイテンシ
(reitenshi)
— delay
Japanese:
レイテンシー
(reitenshī)
— delay
Japanese:
レーテンシー
(rētenshī)
— delay
Latin:
latēntia
— delay
Persian:
نهفتگی
— delay
Polish:
latencja
— delay
Portuguese:
latência
— delay
Romanian:
latență
— delay
Russian:
заде́ржка
(zadéržka)
— delay
Slovak:
latencia
— delay
Slovak:
oneskorenie
— delay
Spanish:
latencia
— delay
Turkish:
gecikme
— delay
Turkish:
gizlilik
— delay
Turkish:
saklılık
— delay
Galician:
latencia
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
German:
Latenzmechanismus
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
German:
Latenz
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
German:
Verzögerung
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Hungarian:
lappangás
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Hungarian:
lappangási idő
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Japanese:
潜伏
(sempuku)
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Portuguese:
latência
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Spanish:
latencia
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism
Turkish:
yataklık süresi
— delay between a stimulus and the response in an organism