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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Passivity

Passivity \Pas*siv"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. passivit['e].]

  1. Passiveness; -- opposed to activity.
    --Jer. Taylor.

  2. (Physics) The tendency of a body to remain in a given state, either of motion or rest, till disturbed by another body; inertia.
    --Cheyne.

  3. (Chem.) The quality or condition of any substance which has no inclination to chemical activity; inactivity.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
passivity

1650s, from passive + -ity.

Wiktionary
passivity

n. 1 The state of being passive. 2 submissiveness. 3 A lack of initiative.

WordNet
passivity
  1. n. the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative [syn: passiveness]

  2. submission to others or to outside influences [syn: passiveness]

Wikipedia
Passivity (engineering)

Passivity is a property of engineering systems, used in a variety of engineering disciplines, but most commonly found in analog electronics and control systems. A passive component, depending on field, may be either a component that consumes (but does not produce) energy (thermodynamic passivity), or a component that is incapable of power gain (incremental passivity).

A component that is not passive is called an active component. An electronic circuit consisting entirely of passive components is called a passive circuit (and has the same properties as a passive component). Used out-of-context and without a qualifier, the term passive is ambiguous. Typically, analog designers use this term to refer to incrementally passive components and systems, while control systems engineers will use this to refer to thermodynamically passive ones.

Systems for which the small signal model is not passive are sometimes called locally active (e.g. transistors and tunnel diodes). Systems that can generate power about a time-variant unperturbed state are often called parametrically active (e.g. certain types of nonlinear capacitors).

Usage examples of "passivity".

This inherent passivity had much to do with the fact, thought Marianne, that the door to the muniments room was not repaired for days although its need for repair had been plaintively stated half a dozen times.

ICHIGO and the Chinese military passivity in the face of it raised the fear that the Japanese army in China might root itself into the mainland and continue to fight even after defeat of the home islands, prolonging the war perhaps for years before it could be conquered.

Covertly, Myshkin is a cultural sponge whose capacity for absorbing pain and evil sacralizes passivity.

Stung a bit still at being bumped by Bellerophon, I protested that direct passivity was not my style.

After she had brooded on the news, it brought a rather sharp discussion, during which he perceived to the full the fundamental opposition between her active temperament and his wife's passivity.

His mother had worn him out, the passivity of his father had depressed him, he feared they hadn't costed the breads right for tomorrow's demonstration.

But I was a European, and I had not lived long enough in the country to acquire the absolute passivity of the Native, as some Europeans will do, who live for many decennaries in Africa.

Or if she chose to match his passivity with her own, and let him linger becalmed until he perished on deck, and was withered by the sun, then that lay in her power too, and he wouldn't lift a hand to contradict her will.

They'd been sufficiently liquored up and each had been given a codeine tablet for passivity.

Perhaps Jaric's passivity was feigned, a ruse intended to throw the Sathid off guard while he marshalled resources for his final step into mastery.

You can no longer pretend passivity- and you need not pretend ignorance.

Leaving men free to think, to act, to produce, to attempt the untried and the new, its principles operate in a way that rewards effort and achievement, and penalizes passivity.

As superintendent of police in occupied Philadelphia, Galloway became impatient with Howes languor and passivity and undertook himself to organize an intelligence network, a civilian commissary, a new sanitation department and involved himself in such civil functions as the issuance of tavern licenses, curfew regulations, and poor relief.

And now Lysander was sprawled on the same low sofa, huddled in Ferdie's long, dark blue overcoat, re-adjusting his long legs, yet as seductive in his drooping passivity as Narcissus or Balder the Beautiful.

All that was necessary was to create a tipping point, a point at which the arrogance and hatred could be brought to overwhelm passivity and caution, and then the heretics would become an army.