Etymograph

English

hibernate

Hibernate comes from Latin hībernātus ‘passed the winter’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘winter’next step skipped: Latin hībernō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhībernātus‘passed the winter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2001hibernate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰey-‘winter’next step skipped: Latin hībernō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhībernātus‘passed the winter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2001hibernate

Earliest quotation: 2001, Microsoft Corp: “Your computer hibernates after it has been idle for…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- ‘winter’

gore, goad, chimera, ahimsa, 14 more

Today it means

verb To spend the winter in a dormant or inactive state of minimal activity, low body temperature, slow breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate; to go through a winter sleep.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- / hibernate

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