|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Nidiculous. Refers to chicks that remain in the nest after hatching. Chicks that leave the nest shortly after hatching are referred to as nidifugous. This distinction is crucial when the chicks reach 18 years of age and ought to be off to university or perhaps to the Marines.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
these are both words that I have never heard, although OneLook has a different spelling for nidicolous. makes it not so ridiculous... <smile>
and the Online Etymology Dictionary doesn't have either word at all. what's the take on nidi?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
eta, so you want the nidi-gritty, eh?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
heh.
well, if I'd read one more tab on my browser, I would have seen that nidi=nidus=nest.
tweet.
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Latin nidi- (from nidus nest) + English -fugous (as in lucifugous) M-W
fugere means to flee, of course colere, to inhabit (nidicolous is the correct spelling)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
so, a telescope would be lucicolous?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
... I got the whole thing from Johnnie Godwin on another thread.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
There is also cavernicolous (cave-dweller), from the Lat. "caverna", terricolous (living on the ground or in the soil) from the Lat. "terra" (soil or Earth), arenicolous (living in the sand), from Lat. "arena" (sand) and my personal favourite arboricolous (tree-dwelling).
-colous terms are often used in biology to describe the habitats where certain creatures can be found, or their living quarters: the most heat-resistant creature on earth is thought to be a tubicolous polychaete worm called "Pompeii worm" found in the deep-sea hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Ocean. It lives in a calcareous tube, hence the name.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Marianna has just revealed to me that I am condominicolous.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,432
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
359
guests, and
3
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|