Altricial Definition
ăl-trĭshəl
adjective
Hatched or born with the eyes closed and with little or no down or hair, and requiring parental care. Used of birds and mammals.
American Heritage
Designating or of birds whose newly hatched young are helpless and hence confined to the nest for some time; nidicolous.
Webster's New World
(zoology) Helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth.
Wiktionary
Antonyms:
Origin of Altricial
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From Latin altrīx altrīc- feminine of altor nourisher from alere to nourish al-2 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From modern Latin Altrices (a former division of birds), plural of altrix, the feminine of altor ‘nourisher’, from alere ‘nourish’.
From Wiktionary
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