See Also: stationary(dictionary)
stationary(medicine)
stationary(dictionary)
stationary anchorage(medicine)
stationary cataract(medicine)
stationary phase(medicine)
Stationary time series(finance)
Stationary time series(money)
Congenital stationary night blindness(health)
Stationary Pick - Water Polo(gambling)

stationary (iou)



stationary adjective & noun. LME.
[Latin stationarius (orig. 'belonging to a military station') from statio(n-): see STATION noun, -ARY1.]
A. adjective.
Having a fixed station or place; not moving or movable; spec. (a) Astronomy (of a planet) appearing motionless at its stationary point (see below); (b) (of a machine or machine-part) that remains in one spot when in operation; (c) (of a person etc.) residing or established in one place, settled; (d) (of an artificial satellite) geostationary. LME.
Daily News A field hospital is a very different affair from a stationary base hospital. H. Mantel Remain seated until the aircraft is stationary.
Of or belonging to a station or stations; spec. (a) of or pertaining to a military post; (b) Ecclesiastical of or relating to (a church holding) a special service in a holy place or (Hist.) a bi-weekly fast. L16.
transf.
a. Remaining unchanged in condition, quality, or quantity; neither advancing nor retreating. E17.
B. F. Westcott Man not as a stationary being but as advancing with a continuous growth.
b. Math. That is not instantaneously changing; associated with a derivative whose value is zero. E20.
c. Statistics. Designating a time-series with properties (such as mean, variance, etc.) that do not vary with time. M20.
Special collocations: stationary air air which remains in the lungs in ordinary respiration. stationary bicycle, stationary bike N. Amer. an exercise bike. stationary disease, stationary fever (now rare or obsolete) a disease which prevails in a district for a number of years and then dies out. stationary motion (Physics, now rare) motion involving no net change in position over a period of time. stationary point Astronomy & Astrology a point in the apparent orbit of a superior planet when it changes between direct and retrograde motion, appearing motionless. stationary state Physics a steady state; spec. any of the stable orbits of the electrons in the Bohr model of the atom. stationary wave = standing wave s.v. STANDING adjective.
b. noun.
I. An appraiser of books and other valuables. Cf. STATIONER 1. LME-L15.
ellipt.
a. Ecclesiastical. An indulgence for attending a station. rare. Only in M16.
b. A planet when stationary. rare. Only in E17.
c. A member of a force of permanent or stationary troops. obsolete exc. Roman History, a member of a military constabulary. L17.
II.
= STATIONERY. Freq. attrib. Now considered erron. M17.
stationarily adverb L18.
stationariness noun E18.
statio'narity noun (a) (Physics, now rare) the condition of stationary motion; (b) the state of being stationary or unvarying; stationariness; constancy: E20.