altricial
adjective
al·tri·cial al-ˈtri-shəl 
: being hatched or born or having young that are hatched or born in a very immature and helpless condition so as to require care for some time
altricial birds
compare precocial 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Robins, bluebirds, hummingbirds and many other birds are altricial. 
Jim Robbins, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2022 If birds are born altricial — helpless — clutches tend to be small to accommodate the higher level of care the babies must receive. Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 29 June 2021 That’s because both marmosets and humans have altricial babies, from the Latin for needing nourishment—meaning offspring that can’t take care of themselves even a tiny bit at the beginning. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 27 Oct. 2020
Jim Robbins, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2022 If birds are born altricial — helpless — clutches tend to be small to accommodate the higher level of care the babies must receive. Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 29 June 2021 That’s because both marmosets and humans have altricial babies, from the Latin for needing nourishment—meaning offspring that can’t take care of themselves even a tiny bit at the beginning. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 27 Oct. 2020 Word History
Etymology
Latin altric-, altrix, feminine of altor one who nourishes, from alere to nourish — more at old
First Known Use
1869, in the meaning defined above
altricial
adjective
as in autonomous
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- autonomous
- self-subsistent
- nonsocial
- unsociable
- self-sufficient
- semiautonomous
- independent
- reclusive
- self-sustaining
- semi-independent
- self-supporting
- recluse
- solitary
- lone
- self-contained
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- social
- gregarious
- colonial
- sociable
- associational
- dependent
- consociational
- parasitic
- parasitical
- symbiotic
- precocial
- subsocial
- apple tree borer
- apple tree canker
- apple twig borer
- Apple Valley
- apple weevil
- apple worm
- apple-cheeked
- apple-headed
- apple-knocker
- apple-leaf trumpet miner
- apple-pie
- apple-pie bed
- apple-polish
- apple-polished
- apple-polisher
- apple-polishers
- apple-polishes
- apple-polishing
- apple-seed chalcid
- apple-squire
- appleberry
- appleblossom
- appleblossom pink
- applecart
- applecarts