English → Latin
“inactivity” in Latin
sēgnitiasloth, slowness, tardiness, sluggishness, inactivityignāviainactivity, laziness, idleness, sloth, listlessness; cowardice, worthlessnessinerswithout skill, unskilled, unskillful, incompetent, crude; inactive, lazy, idle, indolent, sluggish, inert; worthless; stdēsidiaidleness; inactivity; laziness, indolence, slothōtiumtime free from activity: leisure, free time; time avoiding activity: idleness, inactivity; peace, repose, quiet, quietnequiēsthe rest of sleep, repose; quiet, calm, lull, peace, cessation from labor; dream
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
inactivity
segnities (sleepiness in acting, from an inclination to comfort; opposed to industria): ignavia (want of anything like an inward impulse to be doing): inertia (long continued inactivity, and the consequent dislike of labor, opposed to navitas: ☞ inertia also expresses the state of inactivity to which a person may be compelled by circumstances, as Tac., Agr., 6, 4, tribunatus annum quiete et otio transiit, gnarus sub Nerone temporum, quibus inertia pro sapientia fuit). (The words are found in this connection and order.) segnities et inertia, or ignavia et inertia: desidia (the sluggishness that leads a man to sit with his hands folded; slowth; opposed to industria, labor). (The words are found in this connection and order.) inertia atque desidia, or desidia segnitiesque: otium (leisure, rest after business, which in itself is irreproachable, but may likewise manifest itself as a consequence of “desidia;” ☞ Cic., Agr., 2, 39, 103, ii, qui propter desidiam in otio vivunt, tamen in suā turpi inertiā capiunt voluptatem): quies (rest, repose, as the stale of not being in action). To be in a state of complete inactivity, nihil plane agere: to reduce anybody to a state of inactivity, aliquem transdere in otium (Ter., Phorm. prol., 2): to force anybody to a state of inactivity, aliquem a rebus gerendis or a munere avocare (to prevent him from employing himself in any public business or office): to sink into a state of inactivity, desidiae se dedere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for inactivity?
- The usual Latin words for “inactivity” are sēgnitia, ignāvia, iners; also dēsidia, ōtium, quiēs. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.