Part 5792

<syn>Syn. -- Inactive; dull; passive; indolent; sluggish; slothful; lazy; lifeless; irresolute; stupid; senseless; insensible. -- <er>Inert</er>, <er>Inactive</er>, <er>Sluggish</er>. A man may be <i>inactive</i> from mere want of stimulus to effort; but one who is <i>inert</i> has something in his constitution or his habits which operates like a weight holding him back from exertion. <i>Sluggish</i> is still stronger, implying some defect of temperament which directly impedes action. <i>Inert</i> and <i>inactive</i> are negative, <i>sluggish</i> is positive.</def>

<blockquote>Even the favored isles . . . Can boast but little virtue; and, <b>inert</b> Through plenty, lose in morals what they gain In manners -- victims of luxurious ease. <i>Cowper.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Doomed to lose four months in <b>inactive</b> obscurity. <i>Johnson.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote><b>Sluggish</b> Idleness, the nurse of sin, Upon a slothful ass he chose to ride. <i>Spenser.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Inertia</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*er"ti*a</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L., idleness, fr. <ets>iners</ets> idle. See <er>Inert</er>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <fld>(Physics)</fld> <def>That property of matter by which it tends when at rest to remain so, and when in motion to continue in motion, and in the same straight line or direction, unless acted on by some external force; -- sometimes called <altname>vis inerti\'91</altname>.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Inertness; indisposition to motion, exertion, or action; want of energy; sluggishness.</def>

<blockquote>Men . . . have immense irresolution and <b>inertia</b>. <i>Carlyle.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Med.)</fld> <def>Want of activity; sluggishness; -- said especially of the uterus, when, in labor, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased.</def>

<cs><col>Center of inertia</col>. <fld>(Mech.)</fld> <cd>See under <er>Center</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Inertion</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*er"tion</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Want of activity or exertion; inertness; quietude.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<blockquote>These vicissitudes of exertion and <b>inertion</b> of the arterial system constitute the paroxysms of remittent fever. <i>E. Darwin.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Inertitude</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*ert"i*tude</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[See <er>Inert</er>.]</ety> <def>Inertness; inertia.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<i>Good.</i>

<h1>Inertly</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*ert"ly</hw>, <tt>adv.</tt> <def>Without activity; sluggishly.</def>

<i>Pope.</i>

<h1>Inertness</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*ert"ness</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Want of activity or exertion; habitual indisposition to action or motion; sluggishness; apathy; insensibility.</def>

<i>Glanvill.</i>

<blockquote>Laziness and <b>inertness</b> of mind.

<i>Burke.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Absence of the power of self-motion; inertia.</def>

<h1>Inerudite</h1> <Xpage=757>

<hw>In*er"u*dite</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>ineruditus</ets>. See <er>In-</er> not, and <er>Erudite</er>.]</ety> <def>Not erudite; unlearned; ignorant.</def>