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Original · left

Hibernation (animals)

A state of seasonal winter dormancy entered by animals to conserve energy through frigid months.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Hibernation (computing)

A low-power state where active system RAM contents are dumped to disk before completely cutting electrical power.

First in use: the 1990s

Hibernate / Hibernation (animals) / Hibernation (computing)

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Bears vs. laptops.

Which meaning of Hibernate is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Hibernation (animals) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Hibernation (computing) arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Hibernation (animals)Hibernation (computing)
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Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Hibernation (animals)

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Duplicate · the 1990s

Hibernation (computing)

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software