LA'TENT, adjective [Latin latens, lateo; Gr; Heb. to cover.] Hid; concealed; secret; not seen; not visible or apparent. We speak of latent motives; latent reasons; latent springs of action. Latent heat, is heat in combination, in distinction from sensible heat; the portion of heat which disappears, when a body changes its form from the solid to the fluid, or from the fluid to the aeriform state.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI