Pronounced: koh-puh-SEH-tick, adj
Notes: Also copasetic. I kind of know this word (it was marginal)
Yesterday’s word
The word estivate means
- to spend the summer, as at a specific place of in a certain activity
- (in zoology) to spend a hot, dry season in an inactive, dormant state, as certain reptiles, snails, and insects.
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Background / Comments
I assume the zoological definition was first, and it became more generalized to the first listed definition. I actually have not heard it used for the first definition above; I’ve heard it used as a contrast to ‘hibernate’. Our word comes from the Latin word aestīvātus, which is the part participle of aestīvāre (to reside during the summer).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 