sedentary

Etymology

From Middle French sédentaire, from Latin sedentārius (“sitting”), from sedeō (“I sit, I am seated”).

Adjective

sedentary (comparative more sedentary, superlative most sedentary)

1. Not moving; relatively still; staying in the vicinity.

   The oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.

2. (medicine, of a job, lifestyle, etc.) Not moving much; sitting around.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Bishop Warburton, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Sedentary, scholastic sophists.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Beaconsfield, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect.

3. (obsolete) inactive; motionless; sluggish; tranquil
   • (Can we date this quote?), Milton, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     The sedentary earth.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Spectator:

     The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss, sedentary nature.

4. (obsolete) Caused by long sitting.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Milton, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Sedentary numbness.

Anagrams

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