Stagnation Meaning
/stæɡˈneɪʃn̩/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe state of being stagnant; (countable) an instance of this.
nounThe state of being stagnant; (countable) an instance of this., The state of lacking flow or motion, usually causing a lack of freshness or health; (countable) an instance of this.
Sentence Examples
Don't fear slow progress, only stagnation.
Is the Algerian economy doomed to stagnation?
What are the reasons of the stagnation of Algeria's economy?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's lack of new ideas resulted in economic ____ for several years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The economy suffered from many years of ____, with almost no new jobs being created for the young people.
Word Origin & History
From stagnate + -ation (suffix denoting an action or process, or its result), Stagnate is derived from stagnāt-, the participial stem of Latin stagnāre, the present active infinitive of stāgnō (“of waters: to cover the land as a lake, to become a pool, to stagnate”), from stāgnum (“body of standing water (lake, swamp, etc.)”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂g- (“to drip; to seep”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[S]ometimes at the Bottom of the Deep vvaters there ſeem'd to be a ſtagnation of the Sea for a great depth, ſo that till ſuch a height they [divers] could riſe directly upvvards, but that at other heights they vvould be carried avvay by the leſſe deep-vvaters; ſo as to be found vvhen they came to emerge a great vvay off from that point of the ſurface vvhich vvas perpendicular to that place at the Bottom, vvhence they began to aſcend."
— 1671, Robert Boyle, “Relations about the Bottom of the Sea. The Third Section.”, in Tracts […]. About the Cosmicall Qualities of Things. […], London: […] W[illiam] H[all] for Ric[hard] Davis, →OCLC, page 16:
"If the water runneth, it holdeth clear, sweet, and fresh; but stagnation turneth it into a noisome puddle: […]"
— a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “Sermon L. Of Industry in General.”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume III, London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1831, →OCLC, page 275:
"The heat was excessive, and unaccountable; not the slightest breath of wind moved in the heavens, or below; no clouds to be seen, and the stars were obscured by a sort of mist: there appeared a total stagnation in the elements."
— 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter VIII, in Peter Simple. […], volume III, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 112:
"[A]n actual progress of the blood in the pulmonary vessels is brought about [by potassium iodide], a phenomenon explaining the incontested superiority of iodine in all dyspnoeas, which have their origin in a disturbed state of the chemism of respiration, as well as in those of a nervous, arithmatic or cardiacal nature, the latter being connected with blood stagnations in the pulmonary vessels."
— 1892 January 15, “Material Medica and Pharmacy. Digitaline and Iodide of Potassium.”, in Cha[rle]s W. Moore, editor, The Pacific Record of Medicine and Surgery. A Monthly Résumé of Medical and Pharmaceutical Progress, volume VI, number 6, San Francisco, Calif.: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 175, column 1:
"Large-scale weather conditions known as stagnations (slow-moving high-pressure systems) are characterised by a combination of low wind speed and very limjited vertical mixing. Furthermore, they can last for days, leading to very serious buildups of pollutant concentrations."
— 1976 November, Donald F. Gatz; Stanley A. Changnon, Jr., “Meteorological Influences on Air Pollutant Concentrations”, in Environmental Status of the Lake Michigan Region (ANL/ES-40 vol. 8), volume 8 (Atmospheric Environment of the Lake Michigan Region), Argonne, Ill.: Argonne National Laboratory for the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, →OCLC, page 96:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's lack of new ideas resulted in economic ____ for several years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The economy suffered from many years of ____, with almost no new jobs being created for the young people.