Stagnant

How to spell stagnant

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stagnant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stagnant mean?

1. adjectiveNot flowing or moving, and so often stale; showing no growth, activity, or progress.

Stagnant in a sentence

• Mosquitoes breed quickly in stagnant water around the garden.

• The housing market has remained stagnant for three years.

Where does stagnant come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin stagnantem, the present participle of the verb stagnare, which meant 'to form a pool of still water' or 'to stop flowing'. That verb was built on the noun stagnum, which literally named a pond, pool, or swamp of motionless water. English adopted the adjective in the early 1600s, first to describe water that no longer ran clear but sat still and grew foul, and then more broadly for anything that has stopped moving or developing. The same Latin stagnum lies behind the French and English word 'stank' for a pool, and the imagery of still, lifeless water explains why we now speak of a 'stagnant' economy or career. The spelling keeps the original Latin -gn- cluster, which is the part writers most often fumble.

How the word is built

• stagn- (from Latin stagnum: a pool of standing water)
• -ant (adjective suffix meaning 'in a state of')