Although Latin is a dead language because it is not spoken, it is undoubtedly still alive in the Spanish language. A significant part of our vocabulary has a Latin root, as happens with this concept that refers to something that is kept secret.
A situation can appear to be normal and runs through normal channels. Despite this, it could happen that there is something not visible in this situation. That something would be latent, hidden, with an appearance of inactivity. This is what happens with certain diseases, where those who suffer from them do not have appreciable symptoms, but they have not yet manifested themselves, they have not yet been activated. In medicine we speak of the latency period when referring to the time that elapses before the first symptoms of an ailment (for example, in infectious processes).
The idea that something is latent means that a problem or unexpected element is going to appear soon. If there is a latent aspect, it is because there is a waiting time, of uncertainty. We say that there is a latent problem when we sense that the emergence of a difficulty is possible even if superficially the circumstance is totally normal. The synonyms for latent (underlying, hidden or covert) hint at the nuance in the meaning of this word. What we see and what we perceive also has the potential to present a new message or aspect. This potentiality of the latent contributes an enigmatic element, as if it were a threat that could appear at any moment. In fact, the idea of a latent threat is often used to indicate that a negative transformation is germinating and the threat will foreseeably become a reality.
If latent is synonymous with hidden, the antonyms of latent refer to something being clear, patent, real. Thus, there is like a border between the external and the evident and what, on the other hand, is hidden, remaining latent. It is appreciated that the notion of latent has a very particular meaning, something like a psychological mechanism that warns us that the external of an action is not all that is real. If we suspect that someone is deceiving us using very correct and kind words, it is because we perceive that they are hiding hidden intentions. At that moment we are capturing the latent even though it apparently does not manifest itself.
Latent does not always refer to problematic contexts in which a normally negative outcome is incubated. Latent applies equally to phenomena of nature (latent heat is the energy necessary for an element to change phase, from solid to liquid or from liquid to gaseous). The seeds also remain dormant when for some reason they do not germinate.
