asleep or inactive, e.g. during hibernation
temporarily showing no signs of external activity
a dormant volcano
temporarily in abeyance
the plan for visiting Sotherton, which had been started a fortnight before … and had since lain dormant — Jane Austen
I am full of dormant good qualities — Wilkie Collins
having biological activity suspended, e.g. during hibernation
said of a plant or plant part: not actively growing but protected from the environment
said of a heraldic animal: lying with the head on the forepaws
dormancy /-si/ noun
[Middle English, in the sense ‘fixed, stationary’, from early French, present part. of dormir to sleep, from Latin dormire]