Lā'tent, a.

a. [Lat. latens, p. pr. of latere, to lie hid or concealed, allied to Gr. λάθειν, λανθάνειν; Fr. latent, It. & Sp. latente.] Not visible or apparent; not seen; hid; concealed; secret; as, latent motives; latent springs of action. The evils latent in the most promising contrivances are provided for as they arise. Burke. Latent buds (Bot.), those buds that have passed the season of expansion without development. — Latent heat (Physics), that quantity of heat which disappears or becomes concealed in a body while producing some change in it other than rise of temperature, as fusion, evaporation, or expansion, the quantity being constant for each particular body and for each species of change. — Latent period (Med.), the regular time in which a disease is supposed to be existing without manifesting itself.