static

 
Pronunciation: /ˈstatɪk/

adjective

  • 1lacking in movement, action, or change, especially in an undesirable or uninteresting way: demand has grown in what was a fairly static market the whole ballet appeared too static
  • Computing (of a process or variable) not able to be changed during a set period, for example while a program is running.
  • 2 Physics concerned with bodies at rest or forces in equilibrium. Often contrasted with dynamic.
  • acting as weight but not moving.
  • relating to statics.
  • 3(of an electric charge) having gathered on or in an object that cannot conduct a current: the film is vulnerable to the collection of static charges
  • 4 Computing (of a memory or store) not needing to be periodically refreshed by an applied voltage.

noun

[mass noun]
  • crackling or hissing noises on a telephone, radio, or other telecommunication system: the phone was full of static that sounded distant
  • short for static electricity. she felt the tingle of static from the cat’s fur
  • North American informal angry or critical talk or behaviour: the reception was going sour, breaking up into static

Derivatives

statically

adverb

Origin:

late 16th century (denoting the science of weight and its effects): via modern Latin from Greek statikē (tekhnē) 'science of weighing'; the adjective from modern Latin staticus, from Greek statikos 'causing to stand', from the verb histanai. Sense 1 of the adjective dates from the mid 19th century