Definition of "quiescence"

quiescence

/kwiˈɛsəns/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural quiescences
1. The state of being quiescent; dormancy.
  Quotations
  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.
  1883, Henry J. Winser, The Yellowstone National Park-A Manual for Tourists‎, New York: G.P. Putnam Sons, page 46
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.
  Quotations
  I pray you, Salviatus, to tell me ... the cause of the Pendulum's quiescence.
  1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Dialogue 2
4. (microbiology) The period when a cell is in a term of no growth and no division.
5. (entomology) In insects, a temporary slowing down of metabolism and development in response to adverse environmental conditions, which, unlike diapause, does not involve physiological changes.