To cause something or someone to enter a hibernation-like state, or to make dormant for a period of time.
Derived from 'hibernus' (wintry, from Latin) with the verb-forming suffix '-ize' meaning to cause to become or engage in. This technical term emerged in biological and medical literature.
Scientists use '-ize' to turn nouns into verbs all the time—like 'oxidize' or 'fossilize'—and hibernize follows this same pattern, though it's quite specialized and rarely heard outside research contexts.
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