Passive

[pas-iv] /ˈpæs ɪv/

adjective
1.
not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of an emotion or feeling.
2.
not participating readily or actively; inactive:
a passive member of a committee.
3.
not involving visible reaction or active participation:
to play a passive role.
4.
inert or quiescent.
5.
influenced, acted upon, or affected by some external force, cause, or agency; being the object of action rather than causing action (opposed to ).
6.
receiving or characterized by the reception of impressions or influences from external sources.
7.
produced or caused by an external agency.
8.
receiving, enduring, or submitting without resistance:
a passive hypnotic subject.
9.
Grammar.

10.
Chemistry. inactive, especially under conditions in which chemical activity is to be expected.
11.
Metallurgy. (of a metal) treated so as to impart impassivity.
12.
Medicine/Medical. of or relating to certain unhealthy but dormant conditions; inactive, as opposed to active or spontaneous.
13.
Telecommunications. designed to relay signals without electronic devices:
a passive communications satellite.
14.
(of a solar heating system) accumulating and distributing solar heat without the aid of machinery.
noun, Grammar.
15.
the passive voice.
16.
a passive form or construction.
/ˈpæsɪv/
adjective
1.
not active or not participating perceptibly in an activity, organization, etc
2.
unresisting and receptive to external forces; submissive
3.
not working or operating
4.
affected or acted upon by an external object or force
5.
(grammar) denoting a voice of verbs in sentences in which the grammatical subject is not the logical subject but rather the recipient of the action described by the verb, as was broken in the sentence The glass was broken by a boy Compare active (sense 5a)
6.
(chem) (of a substance, esp a metal) apparently chemically unreactive, usually as a result of the formation of a thin protective layer that prevents further reaction
7.
(electronics, telecomm)

8.
(finance) (of a bond, share, debt, etc) yielding no interest
noun
9.
(grammar)

adj.

late 14c., in grammatical sense (opposed to active), Old French passif “suffering, undergoing hardship” (14c.) and directly from Latin passivus “capable of feeling or suffering,” from pass-, past participle stem of pati “to suffer” (see passion). Meaning “not active” is first recorded late 15c.; sense of “enduring suffering without resistance” is from 1620s. Related: Passively. Passive resistance first attested 1819 in Scott’s “Ivanhoe,” used throughout 19c.; re-coined by Gandhi c.1906 in South Africa. Passive-aggressive with reference to behavior is attested by 1971.

passive pas·sive (pās’ĭv)
n.

pas’sive·ly adv.
pas’sive·ness n.