zugunruhe

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zug·un·ru·he

or Zug·un·ru·he  (tso͝ok′o͝on′ro͞o-ə)
n.
The migratory drive in animals, especially birds.

[German : Zug, a pulling, move, migration; see zugzwang + Unruhe, restlessness (from Middle High German unruowe, from Old High German unruowa : un-, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ruowa, rest).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive
He found that a large percentage of the offspring exhibited Zugunruhe (Zug is German for 'move' and Unruhe means 'anxiety' or 'restlessness.' The term is used to describe the anxious behavior in migratory animals) from migratory as well as resident parents.
His publisher describes Skoog's impulse as "Zugunruhe," a German compound word for "the restless behavior of animals prior to migration" and, as the zealous back cover copy adds, "a metaphor for poetry as a propulsive behavior that keeps the mind on the move." Like wildebeests, these jittery poems wander far but with a sense of discipline, unified by anxiety.
"I was fascinated by the ornithological term "zugunruhe" which is the turbulent behaviour of birds about to migrate, whether free or caged."
ZUGUNRUHE TANZTHEATER [Performance by Maren Strack and the Brain Store Project at the Red House for Culture and Debate.]
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