hibernate
pronunciation
How to pronounce hibernate in British English:
UK [ˈhaɪbəneɪt]
How to pronounce hibernate in American English:
US [ˈhaɪbərneɪt]
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- Verb:
- sleep during winter
- be in an inactive or dormant state
Word Origin
- hibernate
- hibernate: [19] The Latin word for ‘winter’ was hiems (it is the source of French hiver, Italian inverno, and Spanish invierno, and is related to a number of other ‘winter’ or ‘snow’ words, such as Greek kheima, modern Irish geimhreadh, Russian zima, and Sanskrit hima- – the Himalayas are etymologically the ‘snowy’ mountains – which point back to a common Indo-European ancestor *gheim-, *ghyem-).From it was derived the adjective hībernus, whose neuter plural form hīberna was used as a noun meaning ‘winter quarters’. This in turn formed the basis of a verb hībernāre ‘pass the winter’, whose English descendant hibernate was apparently first used by the British naturalist Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) around 1800. (Hibernia, incidentally, the Romans’ name for ‘Ireland’, comes ultimately from Old Celtic *Iveriu, source also of Erin and the Ire- of Ireland, but its Latin form was influenced by hībernus, as if it meant ‘wintry land’.)=> himalayas
- hibernate (v.)
- 1802, probably a back-formation from hibernation. Related: Hibernated; hibernating.
Example
- 1. To cope , many species have learned to hibernate .
- 2. Caro said that wolves did not hibernate .
- 3. They might hibernate ; nobody 's sure .
- 4. It herds animals along migration routes or forces them to hibernate .
- 5. And unless you are a bear and can hibernate for a long time , there is nowhere to run .