latency period—(Psycholog y) the period between the ages of 4 or 5 and about 12 years, which separates pregenital sexuality from the beginning of puberty:
- I remember a very definite change when I reached what in modern child psychology is called the “latency period.”
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase latency time—(Computers) the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer:
- The access time consists of the latency time plus the transfer time. The latency represents the amount of time it takes to find the chosen address.
latent period—(med.) the period during which a disease lurks in the system before manifesting its presence:
- Rubeola is unequivocally contagious. A latent period of from ten to fourteen days intervenes between exposure and the development of the febrile symptoms.