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latency

1 of 1noun
/ˈleɪtənsi/
Forms:latencies
1

a state where a quality or trait exists but is not actively expressed at the moment

  • In education, a student's talent might have latency, becoming more apparent as they progress through advanced coursework.
  • Though she worked as part of a team, her natural leadership abilities remained in latency until she was given the opportunity to lead a project.
  • His emotional latency became evident during the crisis, as he revealed a depth of compassion and empathy that was not readily apparent in everyday situations.
  • The student's intellectual latency surprised his peers when he effortlessly aced the challenging exam, showcasing knowledge that he seldom expressed in class.
  • Within the company, there was a period of innovation latency until a creative workshop sparked a wave of inventive ideas from the team members.
2

the time interval between the presentation of a stimulus and the observable response to it

  • The experiment measured the latency of a reflex action.
  • The latency of the reflex was shorter in younger participants.
  • The patient's latency to respond indicated normal neural function.
  • High latency in response can suggest cognitive processing delays.
  • Sleep deprivation can increase the latency of sensory responses.
3

(in computer science) the time required for a specific block of data on a storage medium to reach the read and write head

C2
  • The hard drive has a latency of 8 milliseconds per read.
  • Network latency can affect the performance of online games.
  • The engineer optimized the system to reduce latency in data retrieval.
  • Latency in disk access can slow down the database.
  • Fiber-optic cables minimize latency in long-distance communication.