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diapause

noun
dia·​pause | \ ˈdī-ə-ˌpȯz How to pronounce diapause (audio) \

Definition of diapause

: a period of physiologically enforced dormancy between periods of activity
Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about diapause

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Did You Know?

Diapause, from the Greek word diapausis, meaning "pause," may have been coined by the entomologist William Wheeler in 1893. Wheeler's focus was insects, but diapause, a spontaneous period of suspended animation that seems to happen in response to adverse environmental conditions, also occurs in the development of crustaceans, snails, and other animals. Exercising poetic license, novelist Joyce Carol Oates even gave the word a human application in her short story "Visitation Rights" (1988): "Her life, seemingly in shambles, ... was not ruined; ... injured perhaps, and surely stunted, but only temporarily. There had been a diapause, and that was all...."

Examples of diapause in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 As the soil dries, the animals enter a state of diapause—or dormancy—that can last for decades, Tim Maret, an ecologist at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, says by email. — Liz Langley, National Geographic, "Like magic, these habitats disappear and reappear each spring," 20 Mar. 2019 Meanwhile, toward the equator, warmer temperatures are disrupting other insects’ diapause cycles. — Ben Panko, Smithsonian, "What Do Insects Do in Winter?," 15 Feb. 2017 Insects have their own version of this powerful tool: diapause. — Ben Panko, Smithsonian, "What Do Insects Do in Winter?," 15 Feb. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'diapause.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of diapause

1893, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for diapause

Greek diapausis pause, from diapauein to pause, from dia- + pauein to stop

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More Definitions for diapause

diapause

noun
dia·​pause | \ ˈdī-ə-ˌpȯz How to pronounce diapause (audio) \

Medical Definition of diapause

: a period of physiologically enforced dormancy between periods of activity

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