Definition of Aestivation

1. Noun. (zoology) cessation or slowing of activity during the summer; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals during a hot or dry period.

Exact synonyms: Estivation
Category relationships: Zoological Science, Zoology
Generic synonyms: Dormancy, Quiescence, Quiescency
Derivative terms: Aestivate, Estivate

2. Noun. (botany) the arrangement of sepals and petals in a flower bud before it opens.
Exact synonyms: Estivation
Category relationships: Botany, Phytology
Generic synonyms: Arrangement
Group relationships: Flower Bud

Definition of Aestivation

1. Noun. (biology) A state of inactivity and metabolic depression during summer: the summer version of hibernation. ¹

2. Noun. (botany) The arrangement (vernation) of the parts of a flower inside a bud; prefloration. ¹

3. Noun. (obsolete) The spending or passing of a summer. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Aestivation

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Aestivation

1. 1. The state of torpidity induced by the heat and dryness of summer, as in certain snails; opposed to hibernation. 2. The arrangement of the petals in a flower bud, as to folding, overlapping, etc.; prefloration. [Spelt also estivation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Aestivation

aestheticism
aestheticisms
aestheticize
aestheticized
aestheticizes
aestheticizing
aesthetics
aestho-physiology
aesthophysiology
aestiferous
aestival
aestivate
aestivated
aestivates
aestivating
aestivation (current term)
aestivations
aestivoautumnal
aestivoautumnal fever
aestuous
aet
aetat
aetheogam
aetheogamous
aetheogams
aether
aethereal
aetherial
aetheric
aethers

Literary usage of Aestivation

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: “a” Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature edited by Hugh Chisholm (1910)
"Diagram to illustrate valvular or valvate aestivation, in which the parts arc placed in a circle, without overlapping or folding. FIG. 41. ..."

2. An Investigation of Evolution in Chrysomelid Beetles of the Genus Leptinotarsa by William Lawrence Tower (1906)
"Hibernation and aestivation are fundamentally one and the same process, the term hibernation being applied to the dormant period produced by lowered ..."

3. The Natural History of Plants: Their Forms, Growth, Reproduction, and by Francis Wall Oliver, Anton Kerner von Marilaun, Marian (Balfour) Busk (1895)
"This condition is known as contorted aestivation, of which examples are the ... (6) The commonest form of aestivation is that in which the petals or lobes ..."

4. A Class-book of Botany: Designed for Colleges, Academies, and Other by Alphonso Wood (1869)
"... as the leaves of the apricot Of these forms of aestivation, the 4th, 5th, and 9th, are frequently designated by the general term imbricate, that is, ..."

5. Class Book of Botany: Being Outlines of the Structure, Physiology and by Alphonso Wood (1861)
"COLLECTIVELY CONSIDERED, the aestivation of the flower occurs in four general modes with their variations ; the valvate, the contorted, imbricate, ..."

6. General Biology: A Book of Outlines and Practical Studies for the General by James George Needham (1910)
"Hibernation and aestivation. Corresponding to the seasonal adjustments of early and late plants, just cited, there is seasonal cessation of vital activity ..."

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