quiescence

noun

Etymology: From quiescent + -ence, or borrowed from Latin quiescentia, from quiescens, present participle of quiesco, from quies.

1. The state of being quiescent; dormancy.

   “Old Faithful is sometimes degraded by being made a laundry. Garments placed in the crater during quiescence are ejected thoroughly washed when the eruption takes place.”

   “The man does not theologize; he does not contemplate; he does not envision the full possibilities of the occasion. His one act is belly-oriented, and it is an act of quiescence, not of initiative.”

2. Being at rest, quiet, still, inactive or motionless.
3. The action of bringing something to rest or making it quiescent; the action of coming to rest or to a quiescent state.

   “I pray you, Salviatus, to tell me ... the cause of the Pendulum's quiescence.”

4. The period when a cell is in a term of no growth and no division.
5. In insects, a temporary slowing down of metabolism and development in response to adverse environmental conditions, which, unlike diapause, does not involve physiological changes.