hibernation
noun
Simple meaning
The torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hybernayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
haɪbɚˈneɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
biologysleep
The torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter
computing
A standby state which conserves power by writing the contents of the memory to disk and completely power off the computer, in order that one will resume the session from the disk.
Cessation from or slowing of activity during the winter; especially slowing of metabolism in some animals
biologysleepspace science
A hypothetical state of minimum power consumption, inactivity and metabolic depression in humans during long space flights.
biologysleep
A state of minimum power consumption, inactivity and metabolic depression in some animals during winter.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The torpid or resting state in which some animals pass the winter
Used this way, hibernation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hibernation
- “He emerged from his hibernation to make his first appearance in several years.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.