passive

See also: Passive and passivé

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

• (UK, US) enPR: păsʹ-ĭv, IPA^(key): /ˈpæs.ɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æsɪv
• Hyphenation: pas‧sive

Adjective

passive (comparative more passive, superlative most passive)

Examples (being in the passive voice)
The passive form of “A meteorite hit the earth” is “The earth was hit by a meteorite.”

1. Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
2. Taking no action.

   He remained passive during the protest.

3. (grammar) Being in the passive voice.
4. (psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
5. (finance) Not participating in management.
6. (aviation) Without motive power.

   a passive balloon; a passive aeroplane; passive flight, such as gliding and soaring

7. (electronics) Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
8. (passive provision) Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
   • 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.

   Antonym: active

Synonyms

• inactive
• idle
• disinterested
• uninvolved

Antonyms

• active
• aggressive

Derived terms

• activo-passive
• long passive
• neutropassive
• passive-aggressive
• passive aggressor
• passive armour
• passive defense
• passive euthanasia
• passive gravitational mass
• passive immunity
• passive income
• passive investor
• passive iron
• passive learning
• passively
• passive matrix
• passiveness
• passive participle
• passive radar
• passive resistance
• passive resister
• passive restraint
• passive smoker
• passive smoking
• passive solar
• passive vocabulary
• passive voice
• passivity
• passivization
• passivize

 

Related terms

• passion
• passionate
• patience
• patient

Translations

not active, but acted upon

• Belarusian: пасы́ўны (pasýŭny)
• Bulgarian: паси́вен (bg) (pasíven)
• Catalan: passiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 消極／消极 (zh) (xiāojí)

• Czech: pasivní (cs)
• Dutch: passief (nl)
• Estonian: loid
• Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
• French: passif (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: passiv (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: παθητικός (pathētikós)

• Hungarian: passzív (hu)
• Italian: passivo (it)
• Japanese: 受動的 (じゅどうてき, judōteki), 受け身 (うけみ, ukemi)
• Lithuanian: pasyvus
• Middle English: passyf
• Persian: منفعل (fa) (monfa'el), پاسیو (fa) (pâsiv)
• Polish: bierny (pl)
• Portuguese: passivo (pt)
• Romanian: pasiv (ro)
• Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
• Slovak: pasívny
• Spanish: pasivo (es)
• Swedish: passiv (sv)
• Ukrainian: паси́вний (uk) (pasývnyj)
• Vietnamese: bị động (vi)

taking no action

• Bulgarian: бездеен (bg) (bezdeen)
• Dutch: passief (nl)
• Estonian: loid
• Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
• German: passiv (de)
• Irish: fulangach
• Middle English: passyf
• Norwegian: passiv (no)
• Persian: پاسیو (fa) (pâsiv)
• Polish: bierny (pl)
• Portuguese: passivo (pt)
• Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj), безде́ятельный (ru) (bezdéjatelʹnyj)
• Slovak: pasívny, nečinný
• Swedish: passiv (sv)
• Vietnamese: thụ động (vi)

grammar: being in the passive voice

• Albanian: pësor (sq)
• Arabic: مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَجْهُول (mabniyyun lilmajhūl)
• Armenian: կրավորական (hy) (kravorakan)
• Azerbaijani: məchul (az)
• Belarusian: зале́жны (zaljéžny), пасы́ўны (pasýŭny)
• Bulgarian: страда́телен (bg) (stradátelen), паси́вен (bg) (pasíven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 被動／被动 (zh) (bèidòng)

• Czech: trpný
• Danish: passiv
• Dutch: lijdend (nl), lijdelijk (nl), passief (nl)
• Estonian: passiiv
• Finnish: passiivinen (fi), passiivimuotoinen
• French: passif (fr)
• German: leidend (de), leidentlich, passiv (de), passivisch (de)
• Greek: παθητική (el) (pathitikí)

  Ancient: παθητικός (pathētikós)

• Hungarian: szenvedő (hu)
• Irish: céasta
• Italian: passivo (it)
• Japanese: 受動態 (ja) (じゅどうたい, judōtai)
• Kannada: ಕರ್ಮಣಿ (karmaṇi)
• Korean: 수동태 (ko) (sudongtae)
• Macedonian: пасивен (pasiven)
• Middle English: passyf
• Norwegian: passiv (no)
• Persian: مجهول (fa) (majhul)
• Polish: bierny (pl)
• Portuguese: passivo (pt)
• Russian: страда́тельный (ru) (stradátelʹnyj), пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: fulangach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трпни, пасиван

  Roman: trpni (sh), pasivan (sh)

• Slovak: trpný
• Slovene: trpen, pasiven
• Swedish: passiv (sv)
• Turkish: edilgen (tr), pasif (tr)
• Ukrainian: паси́вний (uk) (pasývnyj)
• Vietnamese: bị động (vi)

psychology: being inactive and receptive in a relationship

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 被動／被动 (zh) (bèidòng)

• Dutch: passief (nl)
• Finnish: passiivinen (fi)
• German: unterwürfig
• Italian: passivo (it)
• Navajo: hoołtsoodii
• Portuguese: passivo (pt)
• Russian: пасси́вный (ru) (passívnyj)
• Slovak: pasívny
• Spanish: pasivo (es)
• Turkish: pasif (tr)

finance: not bearing interest

• Dutch: passief (nl)
• Finnish: koroton (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: passivo (it)
• Romanian: pasiv (ro), supus (ro)
• Spanish: pasivo (es)

Noun

passive (plural passives)

1. (grammar) The passive voice of verbs.
2. (grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.
3. (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.

4. (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.; […]

5. (gaming) Short for passive attack.

Derived terms

• French passive
• Greek passive
• impersonal passive
• short passive

 

Translations

passive voice — see passive voice

form of verb

• Dutch: passief (nl) c
• Finnish: passiivimuoto, passiivi (fi)
• German: Passiv (de) n, Passivum n, passives Verb n, passives Verbum n
• Latin: verbum passivum, verbum patiendi
• Middle English: passyf
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} فعل مجهول
• Polish: strona bierna (pl) f
• Slovak: pasívum

Further reading

• “passive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “passive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pavises

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa.siv/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

passive

1. feminine singular of passif

Verb

passive

1. inflection of passiver:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

passive

1. inflection of passiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pasˈsi.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: pas‧sì‧ve

Adjective

passive

1. feminine plural of passivo

Anagrams

• spesavi

Latin

Etymology

From passīvus +‎ -ē, ultimately from pandō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /pasˈsiː.u̯eː/, [päs̠ˈs̠iːu̯eː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pasˈsi.ve/, [päsˈsiːve]

Adverb

passīvē (not comparable)

1. randomly
2. disorderly

Middle English

Adjective

passive

1. Alternative form of passyf

Noun

passive

1. Alternative form of passyf