v.; also estivate. [f. L. æstīvāt- ppl. stem of æstīvā-re to reside during the summer; f. æstīv-us: see ÆSTIVE. Cf. Fr. estiver (16th c.).] To spend the summer. esp. in Zool. To pass the summer in a state of torpor or suspended animation. (Cf. hibernate.)
1626. Cockeram, Aestiuate, to summer in a place.
1742. Bailey, Æstivate, to sojourn or lodge in a Place in Summer-time.
1854. Woodward, Mollusca (1856), 49. The mollusca … æstivate, or fall into a summer sleep, when the heat is great.
1882. Pall Mall G., 1 Feb., 5. The snails of the equatorial region, though they do not hibernate, yet æstivate (if we may coin a word).
