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stationary

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Definition of stationary

adjective

  • not moving or not intended to be moved:a car collided with a stationary vehicle
  • Astronomy (of a planet) having no apparent motion in longitude.
  • not changing in quantity or condition:a stationary population

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin stationarius (originally in the sense 'belonging to a military station'), from statio(n-) 'standing' (see station)

The words stationary and stationery are often confused. Stationary is an adjective which means ‘not moving or not intended to be moved’, as in a car collided with a stationary vehicle, whereas stationery is a noun which means ‘writing and other office materials’, as in I wrote to my father on the hotel stationery.

stationary in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of stationary in the US English dictionary