NIDIFUGOUS

PRONUNCIATION: (ny-DIF-yuh-guhs)

MEANING: adjective: Well-developed and able to leave the nest soon after hatching.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nidi- (nest) + -fugous (fleeing). 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: The opposite of nidifugous is nidicolous (remaining with parents for a long time after birth). Etymologically speaking, these words apply to birds, but there’s no reason you can’t use them elsewhere. For example, if your adult child suggests living in your basement, you could simply say, “Don’t be nidicolous!”
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NIDIFUNGOUS - the nest is covered with mold

MIDIFUGOUS - the ecdysiast has a short skirt that flies off easily

Ni-di-F-U-GOUS - made with nickel, two atoms of fluorine, and uranium