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The English word torpor is a 13th-century borrowing from Latin: torpōr-, torpor mean "numbness, paralysis, absence of energy, lethargy," and correspond to the Latin verb torpēre, meaning "to be numb, lack sensation; to be struck motionless; to be sluggish or lethargic." Early use of the English word is found in a 13th-century guide for religious recluses, where it refers to a spiritual or intellectual lethargy, but scant evidence of the word appears between that point and the 1600s, when the word began to be used in reference to both mental and physical sluggishness. The related adjective torpid (from the Latin adjective torpidus, meaning "numbed" or "paralyzed") has since the 15th century been used to mean "numb," but today it more often means "lacking in energy or vigor."
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Examples of torpor in a Sentence
Archana Venkatesan, The Conversation, 14 Aug. 2024
Not too long ago, however, there were films — some good, some bad — that believed that conversational torpor as a byproduct of incomplete identity formation and the awkwardness of incipient or dying romance deserved the big-screen treatment.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
The United States is slowly coming around to providing some of the right capabilities, but not in the necessary quantities and not before U.S. torpor degraded Ukraine’s ability to hold and reclaim territory in southern Ukraine and the Donbas.
—Alexander Vindman, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2022
Many even argued that Tokyo could use the moment to emerge from its torpor and keep the world's then second-largest economy from becoming a global has-been.
—Takashi Yokota, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2011
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“Torpor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torpor. Accessed 7 Sep. 2024.
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torpor
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