NIDICOLOUS

PRONUNCIATION: (ny-DIK-uh-luhs)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Remaining with the parents for a long time after birth.
2. Living in the home of another species.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nidi- (nest) + -colous (inhabiting). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which is also the source of nest, sit, chair, saddle, assess, sediment, soot, cathedral, and tetrahedron. Earliest documented use: 1902.

NOTES: Etymologically speaking, the word nidicolous refers to birds that stay in the nest due to their dependence on the parents for food and protection. But there’s no reason you couldn’t apply it to other species. The opposite is nidifugous (literally, fleeing the nest), leaving soon after birth.
___________________________________


NIDICOLOURS - the drab earthtones of a bird's-nest in London

RIDICOLOUS - the silly situation of still living with our parents when we're 40

MIDICOLOUS - like the cloacum magnum of the South of France