hibernaculum

English

Etymology

From Latin hībernāculum (winter quarters).

Pronunciation

Noun

hibernaculum (plural hibernacula)

  1. (zoology) The place where a hibernating animal shelters for the winter.
    • 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, chapter 10, in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Henry Holt and Company:
      Aeolus Cave, which is set into a wooded hillside in Dorset, Vermont, is believed to be the largest bat hibernaculum in New England; it is estimated that before white-nose hit, nearly three hundred thousand bats—some from as far away as Ontario and Rhode Island—came there to spend the winter.
    • 2024 August 19, “LAKETOWN 115-kV TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT IN CARVER COUNTY, MN”, in Great River Energy[1], page 98:
      In winter, NLEBs use caves and mines as hibernacula.94 Suitable habitat for the NLEB is present within the Proposed Route.
  2. (botany) A bud, case, or protective covering that a plant uses to survive the challenging environmental conditions during a dormancy period.

Translations

See also

Latin

Etymology

From hībernō (spend the winter) +‎ -culum.

Pronunciation

Noun

hībernāculum n (genitive hībernāculī); second declension

  1. winter quarters; a winter residence
  2. (in the plural) winter encampment

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

singular plural
nominative hībernāculum hībernācula
genitive hībernāculī hībernāculōrum
dative hībernāculō hībernāculīs
accusative hībernāculum hībernācula
ablative hībernāculō hībernāculīs
vocative hībernāculum hībernācula

Descendants

  • Catalan: hivernacle
  • English: hibernacle, hibernaculum
  • French: hivernail

References