• Nidify

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈnɪd.əˌfaɪ/

    Origin

    From Latin nīdificō ("build a nest"), from nīdus ("nest") + faciō ("make, do").

    Full definition of nidify

    Verb

    1. (zoology) To make a nest.
      • 1854, Albany Hancock, "Observations on the Nidification of Gasterosteus aculeatus and Gasterosteus spinachia", The Zoologist 12: 4409It is only within the last few years that naturalists have clearly determined that some species of fish make nests for the reception of their spawn... Five or six kinds are now ascertained to nidify; and of these, two belong to the genus Gasterosteus...
      • 1997, Gert-Jan van Dijk, Ainoi, Logoi, Mythoi: Fables in Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek Culture, page 206...it may originally have explained why dung beetles do not appear when eagles nidify;...
    © Wiktionary