One of the quotations to illustrate this word included, "snails estivate through the long summer months on the trunks of the trees."

Well, of course. They would hardly estivate through the winter months, would they? I consider the quoted section a tautology. Agree?

have you never seen a phrase such as "bears hibernate through the winter"....

"Hibernate through the winter" - Though it may be printed, it still seems to be tautology, since "hibernate" says it all.About "estivate". The lack of water in very hot summers in arid areas compels amphibians and some reptiles to completely curtain activity and reduce metabolism to a minimum during the dry season. I remember seeing nature program on TV showing frogs buried in quite dry mud coming up very quickly to breed when the rains finally came, and only a short time later having to bury themselves in the mud as it began to dry up again. Fortunate that animals can adapt so well to adverse conditions.

> it still seems to be tautolog[ous]

agreed... merely suggesting that the estivate usage is not an isolated instance.

Besides of which, some folks estivates during the dry season which ain' necessarily the same thang as summer.

Besides of which, some folks estivates during the dry season which ain' necessarily the same thang as summer.

Summer doesn't even exist in a lot of equatorial areas .. they just have two seasons, 'hot' and 'even hotter'.
The life of that frog sounds a little boring in that respect, huh? Stuck down a hole month after month. I tell you migration beats aestivation hands down.

Pity the poor frogs. They're not only stuck in a crummy hole most of the time, but when they finally get the right conditions all they have time for is the old slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am. No wonder they're all looking for a princess to kiss them.

And where would we be without the GroundFrog to tell us what Spring's going to be like?

I'd like to bring this thread out of hibernation, so to speak, and ask a question about estivation. Can the word be applied to any activity carried out during the summer, or does it strictly apply to a physiological phenomenon such as carried out by snails? That is, could a person visiting a locale for the summer be said to be "estivating in San Francisco"?

depends on which sense you're using.. :)

1 : to spend the summer usually at one place and sometimes in relative inactivity <aestivating at his mountain lodge>
2 : to pass the summer in a state of torpor -- used especially of animals <crabs aestivating in the sand>

[W3]

Etymologically estivation is the summer version of hibernation, deriving as they do from Latin aestivus (relating to summer) and hibernus (relating to winter). I had thought that estivate had taken on the meaning of becoming torpid during a dry season but AHD4 claims that estivate can mean either to pass the summer in a dormant or torpid state or to spend the summer, as at a special place. Hibernate has taken on the general meaning of being in a torpid or dormant state irrespective of the season.

aestivating at his mountain lodge So is the word in English written either way, i.e. with or without the initial "a"?