GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  1.       

    Passive , 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.
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      The passive air
      Upbore their nimble tread.
      Milton.

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      The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas.
      Locke.

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    2. Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.
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      The best virtue, passive fortitude.
      Massinger.

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    3. (Chem.) Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.
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    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.
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      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.
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      Syn. -- Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient.
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