torpor

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 17, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>torpor</strong> &#149; \TOR-per\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 a :</strong> a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> a state of lowered physiological activity typically characterized by reduced metabolism, heart rate, respiration, and body temperature that occurs in varying degrees especially in hibernating and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/estivate">estivating</a> animals</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apathy">apathy</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dullness">dullness</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>The magazine article provided ideas for activities designed to shake off the <em>torpor</em> of a rainy day.</p> <p>"Hummingbirds are one of the few groups of birds that are known to go into <em>torpor</em>, a very deep, sleep-like state in which metabolic functions are slowed to a minimum and a very low body temperature is maintained. If <em>torpor</em> lasted for long periods, we would call it hibernation, but hummingbirds can go into <em>torpor</em> any night of the year when temperature and food conditions demand it." — <em><a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/hummingbirds">The Smithsonian's National Zoo &amp; Conservation Biology Institute</a></em>(www.nationalzoo.si.edu)</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The English word <em>torpor</em> is a 13th-century borrowing from Latin: <em>torpōr-</em>, <em>torpor</em> mean "numbness, paralysis, absence of energy, lethargy," and correspond to the Latin verb <em>torpēre</em>, meaning "to be numb, lack sensation; to be struck motionless; to be sluggish or lethargic." Early use of the English word is found in a 13th-century