Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) The state of torpidity induced by the heat and dryness of summer, as in certain snails; -- opposed to hibernation.
  • noun (Bot.) The arrangement of the petals in a flower bud, as to folding, overlapping, etc.; prefloration.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology A state of inactivity and metabolic depression during summer: the summer version of hibernation.
  • noun botany The arrangement (vernation) of the parts of a flower inside a bud; prefloration.
  • noun obsolete The spending or passing of a summer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (botany) the arrangement of sepals and petals in a flower bud before it opens
  • noun (zoology) cessation or slowing of activity during the summer; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals during a hot or dry period

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Formed from Latin aestivare, from aestus ‘heat’.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word aestivation.

Examples

  • The old man had a great deal to say about "aestivation," as he called it, in opposition, as one might say, to hibernation.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851

  • The old man had a great deal to say about "aestivation," as he called it, in opposition, as one might say, to hibernation.

    Autocrat of the Breakfast Table Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851

  • For example, in the case of seasonal land migration of certain salamanders, if the length of the corridor is greater than the characteristic travel capability of the salamander, then the corridor is ineffective in providing additional aestivation opportunities.

    Biological corridor 2010

  • If all goes well (says he for whom something routinely goes wrong at least twice a week), I shall emerge from aestivation within a week, and then we shall see.

    Arrived! superversive 2006

  • My only criticism of the paper is that the aestivation conditions in the lab were not clearly described, especially the ambient humidity was not reported.

    Archive 2006-04-01 AYDIN 2006

  • The cocoons made by the 2 species of frogs that were the subjects of this study, Cyclorana australis and Cyclorana cultripes, during 46 and 51 days of aestivation in the laboratory, had 34 and 32-33 layers erroneously given as 51 in the abstract, see Table 1, respectively.

    Archive 2006-04-01 AYDIN 2006

  • Do they keep adding layers to their cocoons during the entire aestivation period?

    Archive 2006-04-01 AYDIN 2006

  • I suspect there may be other reasons for group aestivation.

    Archive 2006-07-01 AYDIN 2006

  • During aestivation in the lab, the oxygen consumption rate of Cyclorana cultripes fell significantly by 70%.

    Archive 2006-04-01 AYDIN 2006

  • I have written about the aestivation of land snails during the hot and dry Mediterranean summers.

    Archive 2006-07-01 AYDIN 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The opposite of hibernation.

    April 4, 2009