perlatent

Updated: May 20, 2025

Specific or varietal latency is not the same thing as the ordinary latency of characters that only await their period of activity, or the external influence which will awake them. They are permanently latent, and could well be designated by the word perlatent. They spring into activity only by some sudden leap, and then at once become independent of ordinary external stimulation.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation