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Glite Dictionary
anestrous

anestrous

9.9
A female mammal that is not in heat or able to get pregnant
  • adjective
  • /ˌeɪnˈɛstrəs/
  • Specialized
: anéstrica
  • During the anestrous phase, female mammals do not experience the signs of heat, making them less receptive to mating.

Examples

  • The ability to gain the upper hand clearly benefits a female; she can protect her baby and herself from a male's attack, even if she cohabits with males in an anestrous condition.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Veterinarians note that an anestrous female cat will not engage in mating behaviors until her cycle begins again.

  • The female dog was anestrous after her last cycle, showing no interest in male dogs.

Synonyms

anestric
vsanestrous
  • Specialized
9.9

Relating to the time when female animals like cows or dogs are not able to have babies

describes being not receptive or fertile rather than relating to the period
diestrual
vsanestrous
  • Specialized
9.9

A period when an animal is not sexually active between heat cycles

is a general absence of receptivity rather than a seasonal between-cycles state

Antonyms

estrous
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A female animal's time when she is ready to mate

Surface Forms

anestrous positive
anoestrous positive

Morphology

anestrous = estrous (semi-transparent) = an + estr + ous

The word clearly means 'not estrous' through the negative prefix an-, but the base adjective estrous is a specialized biological term rather than a common everyday word.

Etymology

Anestrous comes from the parts an- meaning 'not' and estrous, which is related to estrogen, the female hormone that helps animals come 'in heat'. So, anestrous means 'not in heat' or not in a fertile period.