passiveadj.n.
/ˈpasɪv/, U.S. /ˈpæsɪv/ A. adj.
I. General uses.† 2. That suffers (esp. physical pain, death, etc.); exposed to suffering, liable to suffer. Cf. passible adj. Obsolete.
1.
a. That is acted upon or is capable of being acted upon from outside; that is the object of action; affected by external force; produced or brought about by external agency.
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the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [adjective] > involving subjection to action or influence > undergoing an action
passivea1398
suffering1398
patient?a1425
passible?1533
pathic1857
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 28v Tweyne of þese qualites ben I-clepid actiue, able to worche—hete & cooldnes; þe oþir tweyne—drynesse and wetnesse—ben I-clepid passiue [L. passiue], to soffre.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 14 God may not autorise þat actyfe cursyng..But passyue cursyng, þat is, peyn be it self wiþ synne folowand..is iust.
1483 ( Pilgrimage of Sowle (Caxton) ii. lx. 57 Thou were in me actyf as fire is in the wood, and I in to the passyf as woode is in the fyre.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 1476 Hete and colde be qualitees actyve; Moistour and drynys be qualitees passyve.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft v. iv. 98 Our bodies are visible, sensitiue, and passiue.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 750 Their Canoas are of the barke of birch,..fit for actiue or passiue carriage.
1663 R. South Serm. preached Nov. 9, 1662 20 The Active informations of the Intellect, filling the Passive reception of the will.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 10/2 St. James's coffee-house, where I converse, yet never fall into a Dispute on any Occasion, but leave the Understanding I have passive of all that goes through it.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. v. 83 Passive Impressions, by being repeated upon us, grow weaker.
1773 Ld. Monboddo Orig. & Progress of Lang. (1774) I. i. iv. 46 The mind is to be considered as merely passive, receiving like wax the impressions of external objects.
1842 J. Wilson Recreations Christopher North I. 364 Such passive impressions are deeper than we can explain.
1867 A. C. Swinburne in Fortn. Rev. Oct. 440 Receptive and passive of her [sc. Nature's] influences and forces.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. x. 492 The treasons of Eadwine were often passive rather than active.
1947 N. Frye Fearful Symmetry ii. 35 Locke extends involuntary and automatic reflexes to include the passive reception of sense impressions.
1990 Jrnl. Petrol. 31 1225 The DeMets and Stein..kinematic model of the Rivera plate..implies that the Colima rift is a passive, pull-apart zone.
2000 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) July 145/3 He eschews any dynamic capework as seducer, careerist, and bankroll artist to offer himself in the passive role of sufferer.
b. Of movement or motion of (part of) the body: produced by an external agency.Used, esp. of manipulation by another person as a therapeutic or diagnostic procedure.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > passive movement > [adjective]
passive1832
1832 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1800–14 1 349 The explanation contained in the third part of the lecture, of the salutary effects of external or passive motion, is founded upon one necessary consequence which..must take place from mere mechanical agitation.
1893 A. S. Eccles Sciatica 71 The patient is directed to resist the passive movements practised by the attendant.
1918 E. Hemingway Let. 11 Sept. (2011) I. 139 The right [leg] is stiff but massage and sun cure and passive movements are loosening up the knee.
1949 H. Bailey Demonstr. Physical Signs Clin. Surg. (ed. 11) iii. 31 Auscultation, combined with passive movement of a joint, may reveal a very early stage of roughness or grating.
1976 Amer. Speech 1973 48 208 Those with weak or injured limbs may be given passive exercises by a technician who moves parts of their bodies for them.
1997 R. E. Kappler in R. C. Ward Found. Osteopathic Med. xxxix. 475/1 Passive motion is brought about by the physician.
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the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective]
angeredc1275
miseasedc1390
woea1398
forpainedc1400
labouringc1425
passive?a1439
painedc1450
loaden1542
sored1557
stressed1559
pinched1566
grieved1586
suffering1609
heavy-laden1611
undergoinga1616
vulned1628
loaded1661
afflicted1690
sick as a parrot1705
crosseda1732
wrung1862
traumatized1935
fraught1966
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iv. 1236 (MED) A lawe he sette..That men..sholde hym name..This wordlis monarke, nat mortal nor passiff, Sone to Iubiter.
?a1525 (c1450) Christ's Burial & Resurrection ii. 962 in F. J. Furnivall Digby Plays (1896) 204 For man, diete the maker of all, By his manhed passyve.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Patible, patible, passiue, sufferable.
1650 H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans ii. 12 His passive Cottage; which (though laid aside,)..Shall one day rise.
3. Grammar. Denoting, relating to, or using a voice of a transitive verb in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb. Cf. active adj. 3.In English, the passive voice usually consists of an auxiliary (frequently be; occasionally also get, become, etc.) plus the past participle of the verb; comparable formations are found in other modern European languages.In passive constructions, the word which would logically be the object under a corresponding active construction functions as the grammatical subject, while the logical subject either is absent or is represented in a prepositional phrase (e.g. the food was eaten or the food was eaten by them rather than they ate the food).
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > voice > [adjective] > passive
passivea1450
passival1879
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 57 A participle of a present tens either preterit, of actif vois eithir passif, mai be resoluid into a verbe of the same tens and a coniunccioun copulatif.
c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 25 A verbe deponent..in þe thrydde persone..may haue a passyf voys.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 124 Verbes passyves be suche as..betoken suffring.
?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 8 The verbes actives, passives, and anomales.
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) ii. x. §9 The passive verb adheres to the person of the patient.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Passive Voice of a Verb..is that which betokeneth suffering or a being acted upon, as Doceor, I am taught.
1751 J. Harris Hermes (1786) ii. iv. 283 The Accusative is that Case, which to an efficient Nominative and a Verb of Action subjoins either the Effect or the passive Subject.
a1771 T. Gray Observ. Eng. Metre in Wks. (1814) II. 4 The y which we often see prefixed to participles passive, y cleped, yhewe, &c...is the old Anglo-Saxon augment.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. (1847) I. 33/1 It often becomes necessary to state the object of a verb active, or the agent of a verb passive. Hence arises the necessity for two other cases, which have been called the accusative and the ablative.
1879 J. A. H. Murray Addr. Philol. Soc. 60 The use of the Accusative to supply a Nominative, originally wanting in neuter nouns, is probably connected with the appearance of the passive voice in the verb.
1904 C. T. Onions Advanced Eng. Syntax §27 In the Passive Construction of Verbs taking one Object, what was the Object in the Active becomes the Subject.
1933 O. Jespersen Syst. of Lang. 21 In ‘He was offered a reward’ we see that a passive verb can have an object.
1992 Spoken Eng. 25 45 The vitalising exchange of the passive voice for the active and the need for varying sentence length and structure.
4. Scots Law. Involving, relating to, or having a tacit or implied liability for an obligation incurred by another, esp. (of an heir or executor) liable for the debts incurred by a predecessor. Now only in passive representation n., passive title n. at Compounds.
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society > law > legal obligation > [adjective] > legally liable
liable1542
passive1577
1577 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1878) 1st Ser. II. 664 In the saidis Margaret Dundas as relict executrice..and hir said spous for his interes passive.
1642 in D. Littlejohn Rec. Sheriff Court Aberdeenshire (1907) III. 6 [By the present decree the former one was transferred] in the persone of the said defendar passive as air maill to the said umquhill Alexr. Irving his father's brother sone.
1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1937) I. 306 For nothing can make ane air active bot a retour; bot a seruice (albeit not retoured)..will make him air passive.
1875 E. Poste tr. Gaius Institutionum Iuris Civilis (ed. 2) iii. 350 A curator was appointed,..and instead of selling the active and passive universality of the insolvent's estate,..merely sold the active residue.
5. Not acting, working, or operating on anything else; not exerting force or influence; inert, quiescent.
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the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective]
undiscurrent1509
idlec1522
sleepinga1538
silent1583
unactive1599
passive1604
quiescent1605
torpid1613
quieta1616
inactive1641
actionless1645
slumbering1706
slumberous1809
non-acting1838
supine1843
1604 F. Bacon Apol. 31 I am merely passiue and not actiue in this action.
1661 S. Pordage Mundorum Explicatio 197 Alive he was, but yet he dead did seem... This is the Silent passive state in which God with his Finger Souls doth often touch.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Passive Principles, so the Chymists call Water and Earth, because either their Parts are at rest, or else at least not so rapidly moved as those of Spirit, Oil, and Salt, and so do serve to stop and hinder the quick Motion of the Active Principles.
1789 E. Hands Death of Amnon iii. 23 Absalom is more aspiring; Not cool and passive, like the silly Amnon, But pants to rule; he has a kingly spirit.
1827 R. Southey Funeral Song Princess Charlotte in Ann. Reg. 539/1 Passive as that humble spirit, Lies his bold dethroner too.
1865 J. S. Mill Represent. Govt. 24/2 Abstractedly from religious considerations, a passive character..may not indeed be very useful to others.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 4/3 Passive loyalty being, under the circumstances, to my mind, as great a virtue in a Dutchman as active loyalty in an Englishman.
1964 M. L. King Why we can't Wait i. 22 He knew that yellow, black and brown people had felt for years that the American Negro was too passive, unwilling to take strong measures to gain his freedom.
1988 National Trust News (Thames & Chilterns region) Spring 1/3 There is also a place for passive conservation, or non-intervention... For example, dead wood is left on forest floors to provide a better habitat for insects and fungi.
6. That makes no response or offers no resistance; yielding readily to external force or influence, or to the will of another; submissive.
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the mind > emotion > calmness > meekness or mildness > [adjective]
stillc825
tamec888
mildeOE
lithea1000
daftc1000
meekc1325
lambishc1374
meeklyc1375
benign1377
temperatec1380
quieta1382
gall-lessa1398
mansuetea1425
meeta1425
unwrathful1542
rageless1578
lamb-like?1592
mildya1603
milky1602
pigeon-livered1604
placid1614
spleenless?1615
passive1616
unprovokable1646
milken1648
uncaptious1661
stomachless1727
unindignant1789
pianoa1817
ireless1829
unquarrelsome1830
quiet-goinga1835
uncholeric1834
unoffendable1839
baby-milda1845
quiet-tempered1846
turtlish1855
pathic1857
society > authority > subjection > obedience > submissiveness > [adjective]
tholemodec1000
bowinga1340
subjectc1384
enclinant1400
yoldena1413
subjective1417
prostratec1425
obtemperate?a1475
subjected1550
subject-like1553
submiss1570
submissive1572
yielding1578
obnoxious1591
subordinate1594
subjectly1596
yieldable1603
dejective1611
passive1616
awebound1631
succumbent1647
resigning1648
complaisant1676
ovine1676
1616 B. Jonson Sejanus his fall iv. 410 Arts, Arruntius? None but the plaine, and passiue fortitude, To suffer, and be silent.
1691 D. Defoe New Discov. Old Intreague iii. 10 While passive Zealots their Harangues applaud; Their Dictates swallow.
1732 H. Fielding Mock Doctor 3 You know my Temper is not over and above passive, and that my Arm is extremely active.
1810 L. Aikin Epist. Women i. 5 With passive reverence too I hail the law, Formed to secure the strong, the weak to awe.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. vi. iii. 40 Passive she, all the while, mere clay in the hands of the potter.
1873 H. Rogers Superhuman Origin Bible (1875) i. 28 The passive virtues—those of patience, humility, meekness, forgiveness of injuries.
1909 T. Hardy Time's Laughingstocks & Other Verses 152 In the bearing of each a passive tristfulness.
1988 P. Monette Borrowed Time ii. 38 We could imagine him being passive with his doctors, politely letting them experiment.
2000 C. L. Williams in M. S. Kimmel & A. Aronson Gendered Society Reader 305 Male social workers describe being typecast as ‘feminine’ and ‘passive’.
II. Technical and specialist uses.
7. Finance. Opposed to active adj. 5.
a. That functions as a liability rather than an asset; spec. (a) (of a debt) owed by rather than to a person (now rare); (b) (of a balance of trade) unfavourable; having debits greater than credits.Recorded earliest in passive debt n. (a) at Compounds.
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society > trade and finance > importing and exporting > [adjective] > type of trade balance
passive1606
preferential1843
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > [adjective] > profitable > not profitable or interest-bearing
dead1571
unprofitable1579
passive1606
rentless1648
unlucrative1762
unremunerating1822
unremunerative1827
unpayable1862
uneconomic1899
1606 R. Knolles tr. J. Bodin Six Bks. Common-weale vi. i. 642 The Senatours feared the registers and publike informations, which discouered euerie mans estate, and their actiue and passiue debts.
1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. ii. 192 Vitious Intromission is only a Passive Title, making the Intrometter lyable to all the Defunct's Debts, passive: but is not an active Title, whereby the Intrometter can call and pursue active.
1775 D. Dowling Compl. Syst. Ital. Book-keeping (ed. 3) iii. Ledger Factorage Accts. No. II. f. 1 The Total of my Effects, and Debts passive.
1835 Ann. Reg. 1834 Hist. Europe 414/1 The active debt should continue to bear interest thenceforth at five per cent.:..the passive debt should bear no interest in the mean time.
1918 H. R. Hatfield Mod. Accounting iii. 44 The headings ‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ deserve further mention. They are given to the two sides of the Balance Sheet by practically all the world except the English speaking peoples.
1930 Economist 15 Mar. 587/2 The passive balance of Kr. 25 million was quite normal for the time of the year, as there is always an excess of imports during the winter months.
1940 G. Crowther Outl. Money viii. 298 Following the usual terminology we can say that the balance of trade between the two countries was unfavourable (or ‘passive’) to Switzerland.
1995 L. Berov in C. Feinstein Banking, Currency, & Finance Europe betw. Wars 380 Due to these factors the active or passive balance of trade is not taken into consideration.
b. Of a bond, share, etc.: accruing no interest (see passive debt n. (b) at Compounds). Now chiefly historical.
ΚΠ
1834 Times 6 Oct. 3/2 The ultimate decision of the Chamber would entitle each [bondholder] to receive 105l. in an active, and 50l. in a passive stock; the interest of 5 per cent. on the active to commence in January next.
1874 R. L. Nash Fenn's Compend. Eng. & Foreign Funds (ed. 12) 424 662/3 per cent. converted into Active Bonds, 5 per cent. 331/3 per cent. into Passive Stock, bearing no interest.
1882 R. Bithell Counting-house Dict. Passive Bonds or Shares, Bonds or Shares issued by a Government or by a commercial company, on which no interest is paid, but entitling the holder to some future benefit or claim.
1918 Fitch Rec. Govt. Finances (U.S.) (ed. 3) 361 The Passive Bonds were issued against the remaining 33⅓% and bore no interest.
2002 G. Morgenson & C. R. Harvey N.Y. Times Dict. Money & Investing Passive bond, a bond that pays no interest.
c. Of or designating a style of investment management that seeks to track the performance of a given financial index, esp. by buying shares only in the companies listed in that index.
ΚΠ
1977 Washington Post 13 Feb. e6/1 Also known as ‘passive management’, indexing seems to be the fund manager's equivalent to throwing his hands into the air helplessly.
1994 J. C. Bogle Bogle on Mutual Funds ix. 179 It is certain that passive equity investment strategies have, will, and must, outperform active equity investment strategies in the aggregate.
2003 J. Lam Enterprise Risk Managem. v. 84 Generally, active managers implement a strategy or system designed to exploit mispricing or to manage risk. The alternative is to use a passive strategy, such as investing in a market index.
8. Designating, relating to, or characteristic of a person who takes a passive sexual role, esp. the receptive partner in homosexual anal intercourse. In later use (Psychology) occasionally associated with masochism. Cf. pathic n. and adj. Opposed to active adj. 8.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > types of sexual behaviour > [adjective] > sexual passivity or submissiveness
passive1633
bottom1974
1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. v. vi. 200 The Passive beastly Sodomites in Florida, Gayra, and Peru..who went clad in womans apparell.
1660 J. Garfield Wandring Whore iv. 5 That abominable sin of sodomy, wherein they are both active and passive in it.
1740 W. Beckett Pract. Surg. Contents An unnatural Venereal Case, which befel a passive Sodomite, the active Person being Clapt.
1882 Amer. Jrnl. Neurol. & Psychiatry 1 347 He is the chief passive agent in the pederastic ceremonies, which form so important a part in the performances.
1916 A. A. Brill tr. S. Freud Leonardo da Vinci ii. 39 This phantasy..resembles certain dreams and phantasies of women and of passive homosexuals who play the feminine part in sexual relations.
1935 Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-anal. 16 337 The sexual aims of the little boy's incestuous wishes are clearly passive.
2002 National Geographic Apr. 33/2 He said that at the age of ten he'd been recruited into the Dalai Lama's dance troupe and chose to become a drombo, or passive sex partner, for a senior monk.
9.
a. Medicine. Originally: †not involving an active pathological or physiological process; spec. designating a haemorrhage attributed to weakness of blood vessels or tissues rather than to increased blood flow (obsolete). Later: (of congestion or hyperaemia) resulting from obstruction or slowing of venous outflow, rather than from increased blood flow.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered pulse or circulation > [adjective] > reduction or stoppage of blood
passive1813
static1849
stagnatory1899
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 129 The change from active to passive, or from acute to chronic inflammation, is frequently seen in the progress of ophthalmia.
1833 J. Forbes et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. II. 414/1 There is a very ancient division of hemorrhage (into active and passive) drawn, not so much from the nature of the supposed proximate causes, as from the assemblage of circumstances in connexion with which the efflux of blood takes place.
1871 W. A. Hammond Treat. Dis. Nerv. Syst. 41 Passive Cerebral Congestion.
1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) iv. 83 In passive hyperæmia, or passive congestion as it is often called, the excess of blood is in the veins and capillaries because the venous return from the part is obstructed.
1984 J. R. Tighe & D. R. Davies Pathol. (ed. 4) vii. 55 Passive congestion occurs when there is venous stasis.
2002 Clinics in Liver Dis. 6 947 Severe congestive heart failure is associated with two distinct forms of liver dysfunction: jaundice that is related to passive congestion and acute hepatocellular necrosis.
b. Chemistry and Metallurgy. Not readily entering into chemical combination; inert; spec. (of a metal) having a thin inert surface layer of oxide that prevents reaction.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [adjective] > of or relating to reactivity > passive
passive1836
1836 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 9 54 The third wire can make indifferent or passive a fourth one, and so on.
1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 183 A voltaic battery, consisting of zinc and passive iron, or of active and passive iron.
1940 Nature 19 Oct. 506/1 The addition of a sufficient amount of chromium to iron confers upon the iron the property of producing spontaneously upon its surface a passive and resistant film as a result of contact with the atmosphere.
1965 D. Abbott Inorg. Chem. x. 447 Nitric acid renders some metals completely passive, e.g. iron and nickel are rendered passive by the concentrated acid.
1991 Offshore Engineer Sept. 126/1 The..cellar deck penetration/seal was designed by Mandoval Coatings, well known for passive fire protection coatings.
c. Immunology. Of, relating to, or designating immunity that results from the introduction into the body of preformed antibodies (esp. in an antiserum or in colostrum).
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the world > life > biology > substance > process stimulators or inhibitors > antibody > [adjective] > resulting from antibodies of external origin
passive1895
1895 Sci. Progress 3 204 ‘Passive immunity’, a term first employed by Ehrlich.
1898 R. T. Hewlett Man. Bacteriol. v. 123 ‘Passive immunity’ is soon lost, but..is transmitted to the fœtus.
1935 F. P. Gay Agents of Dis. xxii. 450 Passive transfer occurs naturally from immune mothers to their offspring.
1970 W. H. Parker Health & Dis. Farm Animals ix. 114 Natural passive immunity is acquired from the first meals of colostrum.
1992 New Scientist 8 Feb. (Suppl.) 2/2 The use of passive immunisation is likely to grow, as it becomes possible to manufacture human ‘designer antibodies’ to protect against and/or treat specific diseases.
d. Chemistry and Physiology. Of diffusion or a physiological process involving diffusion: following a concentration gradient, without the application of an external force or a physiological mechanism requiring an expenditure of energy; (also) taking place at a rate proportional to the difference in solute concentration on either side of a semipermeable membrane.
ΚΠ
1900 A. J. Ewart tr. W. Pfeffer Physiol. Plants I. iv. 115 To such, as well as to any passive diffusion through their substance, the relatively trifling total sectional areas of the threads would interpose a marked hinderance.
1932 Q. Rev. Biol. 7 17/1 It happens in both the elasmobranch and the teleost, that the greater part of the metabolic urea is excreted extrarenally.., probably by passive diffusion across the gills.
1974 V. B. Mountcastle et al. Med. Physiol. (ed. 13) I. i. 11/1 The passive inward movements of sodium ions down their concentration gradients (the so-called sodium-gradient hypothesis).
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes vii. 94/1 The aglomerular notothenioids form urine by actively transporting salts into the kidney tubule; water then follows by passive diffusion.
e. Electronics. Containing no source of electromotive force.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > [adjective] > containing no source of E.M.F.
passive1924
1924 K. S. Johnson Transmission Circuits Teleph. Communication xi. 121 The transmission properties of passive networks may often be best determined by considering them as equivalent to lines having smoothly distributed constants.
1965 Wireless World July 332/1 In the so-called hybrid circuit,..the passive elements (resistors, capacitors and conductors) are deposited as thin films on to the thermally grown silicon dioxide protective coating.
1989 EuroBusiness July 67/2 The two companies are forming a joint venture to make what are known as passive components (resistors, valves, etc).
2001 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 Apr. b3/1 Only about one-third of Vishay's business is in ‘active’ components; the rest is in ‘passive’ components such as resistors and capacitors.
f. Of a radar homing system, satellite, etc.: relying on radiation generated by the target or by some other system, rather than generating its own signal. Of a satellite, space relay station, etc.: receiving or reflecting signals without generating or amplifying them.
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society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [adjective] > radar > types of
sideways-looking1832
primary radar1945
shoran1946
passive1954
monopulse1955
back scatter1957
monostatic1957
side-looking1959
side scan1961
lookdown1968
1954 K. W. Gatland Devel. Guided Missile (ed. 2) iii. 67 A missile can be homed on to its target..by..‘passive’ homing (whereby the missile homes on to a source of energy radiated by the target).
1960 N.Y. Times 9 Oct. e9/6 Echo, a ‘passive’ satellite, reflects or bounces radio signals sent from one station back to another point on the earth.
1989 Flight Internat. 4 Feb. 30/1 If the infrared sensor is being used for passive tracking, and the target disappears into cloud, the radar automatically assumes the task.
2001 Pop. Sci. Nov. 71/1 Roke Manor's system is known as ‘passive’ bistatic radar because it makes use of existing radio signals rather than generating its own.
g. Of, relating to, or designating a system in which energy for heating or other purposes is obtained by the absorption of natural radiant energy, usually sunlight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > solar radiation > [adjective] > employing solar radiation
solar1744
solar-powered1959
passive1965
solar1972
1965 Opportunities Participation in Space Flight Investig. (NASA Office Space Sci. & Applic.) 4 The rim panels of the spacecraft receive passive solar energy throughout the observatory day.
1975 K. L. Haggard in Extended Abstr. Internat. Solar Energy Congr. & Expos. 443 (heading) The architecture of a passive system of diurnal heating and cooling.
1987 Stock & Land (Melbourne) 12 Mar. 55/3 (advt.) Architect designed passive solar home.
2001 S. Roaf et al. Ecohouse (2002) vii. 152 There are three key components to all passive solar systems for heating: collector; mass; heated space.
10. Chess. Designating or relating to a sacrifice of a piece under attack by an opponent, esp. one which the opponent is not compelled to accept. Now rare.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [adjective] > strategies or tactics
passive1907
hypermodern1923
fianchettoed1957
1907 S. S. Blackburne Terms & Themes Chess Probl. 87 Sacrificing, offering a White man to be captured. If a man or men already en prise be left so, this may be called a ‘passive sacrifice’.
1924 A. Emery Chess Sacrifices & Traps ii. 40 In general, ‘passive’ sacrifices like that in No. 1—where, the Queen being attacked, Alekhine calmly allows it to be taken—are more pleasing than the ‘active’ variety.
1935 J. du Mont tr. R. Spielmann Art of Sacrifice in Chess i. 2 Those [sacrifices] which must be accepted I call active, the others passive.
1968 P. H. Clarke tr. V. Vuković Chess Sacrifice i. 12 Passive sacrifices have the drawback that they can be declined; they can, as it were, be ignored.
11. Linguistics. Of vocabulary, language, etc.: that is recognized and understood but not used by a person.
ΚΠ
1935 G. K. Zipf Psycho-biol. Lang. v. 220 The auditor's passive vocabulary (i.e. the words which the auditor can understand).
1966 J. Derrick Teaching Eng. to Immigrants ii. 99 Most stories will contain far more material than the pupils are expected to reproduce themselves (i.e. relying on and helping to build up their ‘passive’ or recognition vocabulary).
1994 J. Edwards Multilingualism (1995) iii. 58 A useful distinction can be made between receptive (or passive) bilingualism, and productive (or active) competence; the difference here is between those who understand a language..but cannot produce it themselves, and those who can do both.
12. Psychology. Denoting a type of behaviour or personality characterized by an avoidance of direct confrontation or self-assertion.
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1940 D. K. Henderson & R. D. Gillespie Text-bk. Psychiatry (ed. 5) 312 Predominantly inadequate or passive, this again is an important and numerous group.
1973 L. C. Kolb Mod. Clin. Psychiatry (ed. 8) vi. 93/1 In this type the personality contains a considerable element of aggression..expressed by passive measures, such as sullenness, stubbornness, procrastination [etc.].
1991 M. Gullan-Whur Discover Graphol. ii. 84 Generally, a passive character is suggested, but slow, heavy writing indicates stubbornness or intransigence.
B. n.
1. Grammar.
a. A passive form of a verb.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > other specific types of verb
vocative verbc1414
activec1450
passivec1450
substantive verba1475
neuter1530
gesture1612
nominal1666
quiescent1720
reduplicative1756
dative verb1844
factitive1845
preterite-present1859
compound verb1863
pro-verb1868
preterito-presentia1870
preteritive present1872
action verb1877
verbid1914
inversive1931
eventive1946
hypothetical1957
non-factive1970
commonization1973
contrafactive1985
c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 38 How many be out-take of thys rule? Foure verbes actyues wyth hure passiues.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 34 Changyng the gendre and nombre of the participle..lyke as thoughe they were passyves.
1582 G. Martin Discov. Corruptions Holy Script. i. 13 If passives must be turned into actives, and actives into passives, participles disagree in case from their substantives.
1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 15 Cannot a Verbe Neuter take r, to make it a Passiue, as Actiues doe?
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) at Verb The Verb Neuter, which..hath such a kind of Active Signification, as is not capable of a Passive, as Curro, I run.
a1700 Of Rudim. Definitiones f. 6v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) The tymes of the passiue..may be easilie formed.
1760 tr. C. Batteux Princ. Transl. ii. 37 Why do we in French chuse the actives, and the Latins preferred the passives?
1843 Proc. Philol. Soc. (1844) 1 100 In both languages most of the verbs belonging to this conjugation are passives or neuters.
1894 O. F. Emerson Hist. Eng. Lang. ii. 33 The place of this old inflected passive has been supplied in the Teutonic languages by a compound passive using auxiliaries.
1935 G. O. Curme Gram. Eng. Lang. II. 218 The common actional form is employed also as a statal passive... ‘The door was shut (state) at six, but I don't know when it was shut (act)’.
1971 N. Chomsky Probl. of Knowl. & Freedom (1972) i. 31 ‘I believe the dog to be hungry.’ There is a corresponding passive: ‘the dog is believed to be hungry.’
1994 Appl. Linguistics 15 204 Omission of agent is only one reason for using passives or intransatives.
b. With the. The passive voice.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > voice > [noun] > passive
passive1669
1669 J. Milton Accedence 20 The Passive signifieth what is done to one by another.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (1765) Gram. M ij The passive is formed by the addition of the participle preterite, to the different tenses of the verb to be.
1760 tr. C. Batteux Princ. Transl. ii. 37 The passive was musical in Latin; it had but one word, of a proper length for harmony.
1871 H. J. Roby Gram. Lat. Lang. ii. xvi. §550 All verbs in the passive have in the Indicative only three simple tense-forms.
1875 J. H. Allen & J. B. Greenough Method Instr. Lat. ii. 194 If the main verb is changed to the passive,..the infinitive is retained.
1968 J. Lyons Introd. Theoret. Linguistics viii. 380 The most typical function of the passive is that it makes possible the construction of ‘agentless’ sentences.
1987 Multilingua 6 319 Note too the added complication of can in the passive expressing not the capability of the subject but of the vaguely understood agent.
1998 Internat. Rev. Appl. Linguistics 36 105 Direct address is modified to impersonal forms (man) and the frequent use of the passive.
2. † a. That which is the object of the action of something else; a passive thing, quality, or property. Usually in plural. Obsolete.
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the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun] > subjecting to an action or process > undergoing or reception of action > one who or that which
object?a1425
worka1425
passivea1500
patienta1550
sufferer1587
undergoer1601
operatee1829
experiencer1862
experient1899
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 1481 (MED) Of the forsaid iiij qualitees pryme..the passivis haue some actyuyte.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer ii. f. cccxlviiv Euery actyue worcheth on his passyue.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiv. vi. 370 The artificiall applieng of the actiues and passiues of gold and siluer.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 44 A due conjunction of actives and passives . View more context for this quotation
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. v. 338 Man..by applying Actives to Passives, may do things of not unlike a nature; as the acceleration of the growth of Seeds by Mineral Preparations.
b. Lacemaking. In horizontally worked laces: any of the bobbins holding the vertical threads, corresponding to the warp threads in weaving. Also: the thread held by such a bobbin. Cf. worker n. 12.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > lacemaking > bobbin(s)
bone1599
bobbina1661
worker1883
passive1907
1907 E. Mincoff & M. S. Marriage Pillow Lace vii. 89 The other pairs which these [sc. the wefts] must cross are called the ‘passives’.
1953 M. Powys Lace & Lace-making iv. 20 This makes the connection and the worker bobbins pass back again across the passives.
1953 M. Powys Lace & Lace-making xi. 186 The bobbins hanging straight down are called the ‘passives’.
1977 D. Southard Bobbin Lacemaking i. 44 You have been making a twist in a passive and a twist in the worker pair with each stitch.
1986 G. Dye Beginning Bobbin Lace ii. 14 Knot and pin [the threads from] 2 pairs [of bobbins] at each of B, C and D—these..will be the passives.
3. A passive, unresisting, or submissive person or (occasionally) animal. Usually in plural.
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society > authority > subjection > obedience > submissiveness > [noun] > submissive person
passive1532
pussycat1823
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxiv They enbolded the passyfe to take in the actyues doynge.
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God 7 His patience in all his sufferings did farre exceed the patience of dumb creatures, of Lambs themselves, of wormes, or meaner sensible passives.
1749 S. Richardson Corr. (1804) II. 215 Poor Passives! not allowed to have wills of their own!
1755 S. Richardson Corr. (1804) III. 223 Down goes the passive; finds them, either tired with their walk, or discontented with the want of variety in the neighbouring fields or lanes.
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 207 When the castle was on fire, Sir Abel Handy stood wringing his hands, in expectation that the fire would be civil enough to go out of itself. So it is with the passive.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors II. viii. 190 Colney could not or would not praise our modern adventurous, experimental, heroic, trampling active, as opposed to yonder pursy passives and negatives.
1985 Computer Decisions (Nexis) 17 134 Passives tend to be research people and support personnel.
2003 WWD (Nexis) 10 Apr. 8 They [sc. the ‘edge’ teens] set the trends and every other group—the influencers, the conformists and the passives—follow.
Compounds
passive commerce n. now rare and historical (a) commerce in which the products of one country are transported by people of another; (b) commerce carried out in one country with traders, buyers, etc., from another country.
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1788 A. Hamilton Federalist Papers xi. 66 As they [sc. the maritime nations] have a common interest in being our carriers..they would..combine to embarrass our navigation in such a manner, as would in effect destroy it, and confine us to a passive commerce.
1851 Encycl. Americana IX. 547 Writers of the European continent understand..by passive commerce, that which it [sc. a nation] carries on with foreigners who come to its marts to sell and to buy.
1966 H. M. Hamill tr. M. de Talamantes in Hidalgo Revolt (1970) iv. 96 If the balance of trade had been inclined partially toward Europe and toward America, without the latter having acted to maintain a purely passive commerce, impeding her industry [etc.].
passive debt n. [compare French dette passive (1495 in Middle French)] (a) a debt which a person owes, as opposed to one which he or she is owed (now rare); (b) Banking a debt on which no interest is paid.Opposed to active debt.
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1606Passiue debt [see sense A. 7a].
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Debt Active Debts, are those whereof a Person is Creditor: Passive Debts, those whereof he is Debtor.
1883 Wharton's Law-lexicon (ed. 7) Passive debt, a debt upon which, by or without agreement..no interest is payable.
1985 S. B. Schwartz Sugar Plantations in Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550–1835 (1998) 211 Few persons connected to the sugar economy died without some active or passive debts, and executors were often admonished in wills to pay or collect some outstanding amount.
1995 Jrnl. Commerce (Nexis) 19 Apr. 3 a $3 billion will be used to refinance short-term passive debt denominated in foreign currencies.
passive-dependent adj. Psychiatry and Psychology (originally U.S.) designating, displaying, or characteristic of a personality type or disorder characterized by both passiveness and emotional overdependence on other people.
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1949 S. B. Sarason Psychol. Probl. in Mental Deficiency iv. 88 His responses were characterized by a passive-dependent quality to such an extent that one may assume that such needs are extremely strong and ungratified.
1969 R. L. Kelley in P. Solomon & V. D. Patch Handbk. Psychiatry xlii. 521 Severe characterologic problems such as sexual perversion, alcoholism..and passive dependent personality.
2002 Jrnl. Men's Stud. (Nexis) Sept. 1 Older women also used some concepts that younger women did not: passive-dependent, restricted/oppressed, materialistic, and aggressive/domineering.
passive drift n. Aeronautics rare the part of the total head resistance of an aircraft which is not induced by the lift.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 437 Passive drift, in aëronautics, the drift produced by all the aëroplane except the lifting surfaces—that is the struts, wires, fuselage, under-carriage, etc.
passive euthanasia n. the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining medical treatment in the knowledge that the person concerned will die.
ΚΠ
1949 Dixon (Illinois) Evening Tel. 4 Mar. 1/7 (heading) Passive Euthanasia Is Discussed by Doctors.
1974 N.Y. Times 16 June iv. 7/2 On terminal care, 82 per cent [of doctors] would practice a form of passive euthanasia on members of their family, 86 per cent on themselves.
1999 Ethics 109 500 A doctor's letting her patient die has traditionally been called passive euthanasia.
passive house n. a building designed to absorb solar energy for heating (cf. sense A. 9g); now spec. (often with capital initials) a house built in accordance with the Passivhaus energy efficiency standard (see Passivhaus n.).
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1974 Pop. Sci. Mar. 81/1 (heading) The passive house... Hay's idea was to be able to remove the insulation..so the roof would get hot and heat the inside of the house.
1981 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 10 Oct. viii. 7/1 A properly built and correctly run passive house can get as much as 40 percent of its heat from the sun.
1994 M. Brinkley Housebuilder's Bible (ed. 5) xiii. 204/2 The Passive House is an example of an ultra-low energy dwelling which requires almost no heating.
2015 D. MacDonald Eco Living Japan ii. 109 Passive House regulations demand a house have an airtight building shell to control humidity and store heat energy.
passive matrix n. Computing a liquid crystal display in which the state of a pixel remains unchanged until it is caused to change state by means of a current applied via a grid of conductors; frequently attributive; cf. active matrix n. at active adj. and n. Compounds 2.
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1978 Internat. Electron Devices Meeting 258 Describes a new principle of flat panel using a smectic A liquid crystal. It is a ‘passive matrix’ working in a thermoelectric mode.
1993 New Scientist 31 July 34/2 ‘Supertwisted nematic’ displays superseded the simple passive-matrix LCD, which contained no active electronics.
2001 Contact May 104/4 (Gloss.) DSTN, double-layer Super Twist Nematic. Also known as dual scan or passive matrix, this is currently the cheapest colour flat screen technology to manufacture.
passive obedience n. (a) Theology the submission of Christ to the will of his Father, leading to his suffering and death on the Cross (contrasted with active obedience n. (a) at active adj. and n. Compounds 2); (b) willing, uncomplaining, or unresisting submission to the will of another, spec. to God; (c) compliance with commands irrespective of their nature (cf. non-resistance n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > [noun] > unqualified
passive obediencea1602
society > authority > subjection > obedience > submissiveness > [noun]
yieldingc1425
submission?a1439
passive obediencea1602
submissiveness1608
submissness1613
yieldingness1613
yokeablenessa1638
yieldableness1645
passivity1681
a1602 W. Perkins Cloud of Faithfull Witnesses (1607) 155 His Passiue obedience was his passion, or suffering of whatsoeuer the Iustice of God had inflicted on man for sinne.
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God 122 All passive obedience doth properly consist in patient suffering such things as are enjoyned by lawfull authority.
1656 J. Bramhall Replic. to Bishop of Chalcedon vi. 231 Whether a power to reform abuses and inconveniences be necessary to a King, to which all his Subjects owe at least passive obedience.
1712 G. Berkeley (title) Passive Obedience; or, the Christian Doctrine of not resisting the Supreme Power, proved and vindicated, upon the Principles of the Law of Nature.
1827 H. Hallam Constit. Hist. Eng. II. xi. 192 The doctrine of passive obedience had now crept from the homilies into the statute-book.
1871 A. C. Fraser Life & Lett. G. Berkeley ii. 49 Non-resistance and passive obedience were then associated with Jacobitism.
2002 Progressive (Nexis) 1 May 14 Other workers are also susceptible to the harsh Calvinistic ideology that accompanied welfare reform and dictates passive obedience in the workplace.
passive prayer n. religious devotion achieved by emptying one's mind (see quot. 1728).
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1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Passive Passive Prayer, in the Language of the Mystick Divines, is a total Suspension or Ligature of the intellectual Faculties, in virtue whereof the Soul remains, of it self and its own Power, impotent with regard to the producing of any Effects.
1883 Catholic Dict. at Meditation It is important to notice that in passive prayer ‘free will exercises itself in the whole of its extent’.
2001 Indianapolis Recorder (Nexis) 106 1 Jabez boldly breaks the mold of passive prayer when he has the nerve to ask God to ‘bless me indeed’.
passive rate n. Economics the projected rate of economic growth plus the rate of inflation expected.
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1972 Times 29 Dec. 15/1 It has also been accepted that the annual rate of monetary growth should be curbed gradually rather than suddenly until it reaches a ‘passive’ rate—the planned rate of economic growth plus the going rate of inflationary expectations.
2001 Financial Anal. (Nexis) Oct. 2 The rate of return beyond the passive rate is the Extraordinary Return Rate (ERR).
passive representation n. Scots Law the tacit acceptance of liability for the debts of a dead person by an heir or executor.
ΚΠ
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 711 All passive representation is founded on a presumption of fraud on the part of the heir.
1994 D. R. Macdonald Succession 27 A deceased person's debts do not die with him. His estate remains liable for them after it passes into the hands of his executor. This is the principle of ‘passive representation’.
passive restraint n. a vehicle safety device (such as an air bag) that is activated automatically when an impact occurs rather than requiring action by the user.
ΚΠ
1969 Federal Reg. (U.S.) 2 July 11148/2 The interests of motor vehicle safety demand the prompt development and installation of passive restraint systems.
1986 Atlantic Sept. 12/1 September 1, ten percent of all cars manufactured on or after this date for model year 1987 must include passive restraints.
2002 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 16 Dec. (Cars section) 1 Federal regulations requiring passive restraints prompted General Motors to offer air bags as an option.
passive solar gain n. the increase in temperature of a building, object, or space caused by the absorption of solar radiation; = solar gain n. at solar adj. and n.1 Additions.
ΚΠ
1977 Solar Energy (Joint Hearing U.S. Senate Comm. Energy & Nat. Resources & Select Comm. Small Business: Publ. No. 95-65) 106 These codes need revision to allow regional uniqueness in design, passive solar gain design as well as other features yet to be demonstrated.
1996 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 14 Sept. 4 The orientation of the home takes full advantage of the passive solar gain, trapping the winter sun.
2010 S. Henderson & D. Roscoe Solar Home Design Man. Cool Climates 93/1 Solar thermal can be a fantastic match for in-floor heat, especially when passive solar gain is minimal due to site restrictions or orientation.
passive smoke n. smoke inhaled as a result of passive smoking.
ΚΠ
1981 United Press Internat. Newswire (Nexis) 19 May The AMA urged that studies be conducted on the health effects of passive smoke on passengers.
2002 Time 27 May 51/3 Researchers have theorized that anything from lead exposure to passive smoke may drive some students to act out more than others.
passive smoker n. a person subject to passive smoking.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > [noun] > smoker > other
cigar-smoker1846
cigarette-smoker1886
chain-smoker1890
fag hag1943
fag ash Lil1971
passive smoker1976
1976 Med. Jrnl. Austral. 2 68 This type of smoker is known as a passive or second-hand smoker.
2002 Hornsby Advocate (Australia) (Nexis) 19 Dec. You become a ‘passive smoker’ when you breathe in tobacco smoke in the environment.
passive smoking n. [compare German Passivrauchen (1976 or earlier)] the involuntary inhalation, esp. by a non-smoker, of another person's tobacco smoke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > [noun] > other
cigar-smoking1834
cigarette-smoking1888
chain-smoking1930
passive smoking1971
1971 G. Richardson 2nd World Conf. Smoking & Health 217 Some studies give attention to the fact that non-smokers cannot avoid inhaling smoke when breathing smoky air, the so-called ‘passive smoking’.
2002 Hornsby Advocate (Australia) (Nexis) 19 Dec. Passive smoking is especially risky for children and babies, because their small bodies are still developing.
passive title n. Scots Law (now historical and rare) the legal position or right of an heir or executor who comes to be held liable for the debts of a dead person after having accepted his or her property.
ΚΠ
1693 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 2) iii. vi. §3 The Reason of introducing this passive Title, is in favour of Creditors, that they be not un-satisfied, or shifted by the Heirs of the defunct Creditors.
1773 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. II. iii. viii. §87 That apparent heirs might not, upon gratuitous dispositions from their ancestors, enjoy their estates without being liable for their debts, the passive title of præceptio was introduced.
1861 G. Ross W. Bell's Dict. Law Scotl. (rev. ed.) 615 A passive title, by which the heir, without acquiring an active title, as by service or confirmation, tacitly and by implication subjects himself to the responsibilities belonging to the character of heir.
1955 Ld. Guthrie in Sc. Law Times 348 It appears that the deceased's next of kin are neither lucrati by his succession, nor have they intromitted with his estate so as to acquire a passive title.
passive transport n. the carrying or conveyance of an organism, substance, etc., from one location to another without any effort or expenditure of energy on the part of the thing carried; (Biochemistry) the movement of molecules or ions across a cellular membrane without expenditure of chemical energy, as by diffusion or osmosis (cf. active transport n. at active adj. and n. Compounds 2).
ΚΠ
1902 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 41 315 They [sc. crayfishes] do not possess in any stage of their life, and especially not in the egg or larval stage, any means or devices which permit their passive transport.
1953 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 57 476/1 A widely diverse group of phenomena involving the passive transport of substances in solution into and across such porous structures as animal or plant membranes.
1978 M. Pines Inside Cell 73 In each case of passive transport, the molecules diffuse from a space where their concentration is high to a space where their concentration is low.
2007 Forestry & Brit. Timber (Nexis) 16 May 14 The insect is spread by wind-assisted moth flight and passive transport of moths and infested leaves on pedestrians and road vehicles.
passive trust n. Law a nominal trust; a trust on which the trustees have no duty to perform.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > transfer of property > settlement of property > [noun] > putting property into trust > type of trust
resulting trust1693
shifting use1765
passive trust1837
living trust1913
blind trust1969
1837 W. Hayes Conveyancing (ed. 3) 83 The right of the wife of a sole owner of the legal inheritance to be endowed of one-third of the land at his death, also gave occasion..to passive trusts.
1930 Jrnl. Business Univ. Chicago 3 439 Another activity, the underwriting of new financing for companies in which it is interested, is shared by a few of the ‘passive’ trusts in this country and by a great many in England.
2002 Associated Press (Nexis) 22 Nov. One provision of the measure creates a passive trust status option which gives Native American land owners more opportunities to give their land to descendents.
passive use n. Law a use in which one party possesses an estate while another enjoys the profits arising from it; a permissive use.
ΚΠ
1904 N.E.D. at Passive Passive use.
1994 E. H. Burn Cheshire & Burn's Mod. Law Real Prop. (ed. 15) 50 [The effect of the Statute of Uses 1535] was to abolish the distinction between the legal and the equitable estate in the case of the passive use, that is to say where the feofees stood seized to the use of B and were the mere passive instruments for carrying out the directions of B.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1398- rough-skinned plum
- rough-slant
- rough-sort
- rough-sounding
- rough-spirited
- rough-split
- rough-spoken
- rough-spun
- rough-stalked meadow grass
- rough-stoning
- rough-surfaced
- rough-tail
- rough-tailed
- rough-tailed snake
- rough-tailed stickleback
- rough-tasted
- rough-tasting
- rough-thatched
- rough-tongued
- rough-toothed
- rough-towel
- rough-tree
- rough-tree rail
- rough-tree timber
- rough-trimmed