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latency

noun
la·​ten·​cy | \ ˈlā-tᵊn(t)-sē How to pronounce latency (audio) \
plural latencies

Definition of latency

1 : the quality or state of being latent : dormancy latency is a characteristic common to all members of the troublesome herpes family— Claudia Wallis
2 : something latent writers who know how to evoke these latencies— E. C. Lindeman
3 : a stage of psychosexual (see psychosexual sense 1) development following the phallic (see phallic sense 3) stage that extends from about the age of five or six to the beginning of puberty and during which sexual urges often appear to lie dormant
4 : latent period sense 2
Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about latency

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Examples of latency in a Sentence

the flower bulbs went from latency to full bloom in a matter of days

Recent Examples on the Web

 SpaceX's satellite project, named Starlink, aims to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband around the world. — Jon Brodkin, WIRED, "SpaceX Satellites Will Fly Low to Prevent Space Junk," 30 Apr. 2019 As of the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, AMD said optimizations to the operating system will dispatch work to adjacent cores on the same die first, which will greatly reduce latency. — Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "AMD's Ryzen 9 3950X is a 16-core CPU aiming to topple Intel's gaming dominance," 10 June 2019 These lower satellites are intended to boost capacity and reduce latency in heavily populated areas. — Jon Brodkin, WIRED, "SpaceX Satellites Will Fly Low to Prevent Space Junk," 30 Apr. 2019 Once this initial surge is over, HIV transitions into a clinical latency stage which means people carrying the virus can go for years without experiencing any symptoms at all. — Everyday Einstein Sabrina Stierwalt, Scientific American, "Can We Cure HIV?," 25 July 2019 The fund gets new claimants every week because of the long latency of toxins like asbestos associated with ground zero and other sites where debris from the attacks was deposited. — Gabriel T. Rubin, WSJ, "House Passes Bill Shoring Up 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund," 12 July 2019 Secondly, the arrival of 5G promises to allow a bevy of new connected services, which ought to drive high-margin revenue growth: their low latency should enable companies and factories to hand off more processes to cloud or edge computing. — Alex Webb | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "When Digitization Isn’t The Answer to Your Prayers," 10 May 2019 Its main advantages are very high speeds and very low latency. — Larry Magid, The Mercury News, "Magid: 5G brings opportunities but also risks," 27 June 2019 Further Reading Google tries to reassure gamers about Stadia speed and latency concerns Google is now recommending users have at least a 10mbps Internet connection to use Stadia. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Google Stadia requires $130 upfront, $10 per month at November launch," 6 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'latency.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of latency

1615, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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More Definitions for latency

latency

noun
la·​ten·​cy | \ ˈlāt-ᵊn-sē How to pronounce latency (audio) \
plural latencies

Medical Definition of latency

1 or latency period or latent period

a : the quality or state of being latent especially : the state or period of living or developing in a host without producing symptoms The cellular mechanisms by which viral latency is maintained or viral replication is induced is not known. — Science, 20 June 1986 During this nonreplicating latent period, the virus' home is believed to be the ganglia of nerves serving the area where the herpes lesion initially appeared. — The Journal of the American Medical Association, 11 Nov. 1983
b : the time or period between exposure to a disease-causing agent or process and the onset of symptoms or disease In the worst cases, chronic active hepatitis develops and can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and finally to hepatocellular carcinoma. … Usually the cancer does not develop until after a 30- to 50- year latency period …— Peter Tiollais and Marie-Annick Buenidia, Scientific American, April 1991
2 usually latency period or latency stage : a stage of psychosexual development that follows the phallic stage and precedes the genital stage, extends from about the age of five or six to the beginning of puberty, and during which sexual urges often appear to lie dormant
3 or latent period : the time interval between application of a stimulus and the beginning of an identifiable response (such as muscle contraction) : reaction time

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