LA'TENT, a. [L. latens, lateo; Gr; Heb. to cover.]
Hid; concealed; secret; not See N; 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.
