estivation

noun

es·​ti·​va·​tion ˌe-stə-ˈvā-shən 

variants or aestivation

1

zoology : the state or condition of torpidity or dormancy induced by the heat and dryness of summer : the state of one that is estivating

Some animals, including various species of snakes, land snails, and lizards, enter a state of dormancy, or estivation, in the summer when water is scarce.

—Carrol B. Fleming

… they [land snails of the genus Cerion] spend most of this time in the warm weather equivalent of hibernation (called estivation), hanging upside down from vegetation or affixed to rocks.

—Stephen Jay Gould

2

usually aestivation botany : the arrangement or position of the petals or sepals in a flower bud

In practice, aestivation is best observed by making hand sections of mature flower buds …

—Michael G. Simpson

… flowers on the same plants or the same stem may exhibit either clockwise or counterclockwise spiral estivations …

—Carlos Herrera

compare vernation

Examples of estivation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When temperatures reach 113 degrees (45 degrees Celsius) during the dry season, crocodiles will attempt to aestivation — or reduce their body temperature by burying themselves in mud for up to a month without eating, by living off its fat reserves. — Camille Fine, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2023

Reptiles, amphibians and lungfish also use estivation to ward off long periods of hot weather. — Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Aug. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1783, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for estivation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Medical Definition

estivation

noun

es·​ti·​va·​tion

variants or aestivation

ˌes-tə-ˈvā-shən 

: the state of one that estivates