Meanings
adjectivemonestrous (not comparable)
- not comparablebiologyOf or pertaining to a mammal, such as the dog, that only enters into heat once during each of its normal breeding cycles.
Most wild carnivorous mammals are monestrous.
2013, William O. Reece, Functional Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals, →ISBN, page 4772 more examples
The dog, wolf, and fox are monestrous, the fox and wolf having one and the dog two cycles in a year.
1977, Solomon Zuckerman, Barbara J. Weir, editors, The Ovary: Volume 2 Physiology, 2nd edition, →ISBNMales of monestrous species also exhibit a cycle, being sexually active only during the females' estrus.
2005, Robert Hine, The Facts on File Dictionary of Biology, 4th edition, →ISBN, page 129
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
adjectivehaving one estrous cycle per year
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
monestrous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monestrous
MLA
“monestrous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monestrous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monestrous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monestrous.
Source: monestrous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.