Some cultures regard the autumnalequinox as "mid-autumn", while others with a longertemperature lag treat the equinox as the start of autumn.[2] In theEnglish-speaking world of high latitude countries, autumn traditionally began withLammas Day and ended aroundHalloween, the approximate mid-points betweenmidsummer, the autumnal equinox, andmidwinter. Meteorologists (and Australia[3][4] and most of thetemperate countries in the southern hemisphere)[5][6] use a definition based onGregorian calendar months, with autumn being September, October, and November in the northern hemisphere,[7] and March, April, and May in the southern hemisphere.
In the higher latitude countries in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn traditionally starts with theSeptember equinox (21 to 24 September)[8] and ends with the winter solstice (21 or 22 December).[9] In the United States, Labor Day (the first Monday in September) is often informally treated as the end of summer and start of autumn; certain summer traditions, such as wearing white, may be frowned upon after that date.[10] As daytime and nighttime temperatures decrease, treeschange colour and then shed their leaves.[11]
Under the traditional East Asiansolar term system, autumn starts on or around 8 August and ends on or about 7 November. In Ireland, the autumn months according to the national meteorological serviceMet Éireann areSeptember,October, andNovember.[12] However, according to theIrish Calendar, which is based on ancientGaelic traditions, autumn lasts throughout the months of August, September, and October, or possibly a few days later, depending on tradition. In theIrish language, September is known asMeán Fómhair ('middle of autumn') and October asDeireadh Fómhair ('end of autumn').[13][14] LateRoman Republic scholarMarcus Terentius Varro defined autumn as lasting from the third day before theIdes ofSextilis (11 August) to the fifth day before the Ides ofNovember (9 November).[15]
The wordautumn (/ˈɔːtəm/ⓘ) is derived from Latinautumnus, archaicauctumnus, possibly from the ancientEtruscan rootautu-, which had connotations of the passing of the year.[16] Alternative etymologies includeProto-Indo-European: *h₃ewǵ- ('cold') or*h₂sows- ('dry').[17]
After the Greek era,[clarification needed] the word continued to be used as theOld French wordautompne (automne inmodern French) orautumpne in Middle English,[18] and was later normalised to the original Latin. In theMedieval period, there are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but by the 16th century, it was in common use.
Before the 16th century,harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in otherWest Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutchherfst, GermanHerbst, andScotshairst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns, the wordharvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, andautumn, as well asfall, began to replace it as a reference to the season.[19][20]
The alternative wordfall for the season traces its origins to oldGermanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, with theOld Englishfiæll orfeallan and theOld Norsefall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning 'to fall from a height' and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in16th-century England, a contraction ofMiddle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year". Compare the origin ofspring from "spring of the leaf" and "spring of the year".[21]
During the 17th century, English settlers began emigrating to thenew North American colonies, and took the English language with them. While the termfall gradually became nearly obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America.[22]
The namebackend, a once common name for the season inNorthern England, has today been largely replaced by the nameautumn.[23]
Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primaryharvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Many cultures feature autumnalharvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars.
Still-extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the autumnThanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the JewishSukkot holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (living in outdoor huts around the time of harvest). There are also the many festivals celebrated byIndigenous peoples of the Americas tied to the harvest of ripe foods gathered in the wild, the ChineseMid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather.
This view is presented in English poetJohn Keats's poemTo Autumn, where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of "mellow fruitfulness".
In North America, while most foods are harvested during the autumn, foods usually associated with the season include pumpkins (which are integral parts of both Thanksgiving andHalloween) and apples, which are used to make the seasonal beverageapple cider.
Autumn, especially in poetry, has often been associated withmelancholia. The possibilities and opportunities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon. Skies turn grey, the amount of usable daylight drops rapidly, and many people turn inward, both physically and mentally.[24] It has been referred to as an unhealthy season.[25]
In the northern hemisphere autumn is associated withHalloween (influenced bySamhain, a Celtic autumn festival),[27] and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it. TheCeltic people also used this time to celebrate theharvest with a time of feasting. At the same time though, it was a celebration of death as well. Crops were harvested, livestock were butchered, and winter was coming.[28]
Halloween, 31 October, is in autumn in the northern hemisphere. Television, film, book, costume, home decoration, and confectionery businesses use this time of year to promote products closely associated with such a holiday, with promotions going from late August or early September to 31 October, since their themes rapidly lose strength once the holiday ends, and advertising starts concentrating on Christmas.
In the southern hemisphere Halloween takes place in Spring.
Autumn colouration at the Kalevanpuisto park inPori, Finland.
In some parts of the northern hemisphere, autumn has a strong association with the end ofsummer holiday and thestart of a new school year, particularly for children in primary and secondary education. "Back to School" advertising and preparations usually occurs in the weeks leading to the beginning of autumn.
Television stations and networks, particularly in North America, traditionally begin their regular seasons in their autumn, with new series and new episodes of existing series debuting mostly during late September or early October (series that debut outside the autumn season are usually known asmid-season replacements). A sweeps period takes place in November to measureNielsen Ratings.
American football is played almost exclusively in the autumn months; at thehigh school level, seasons run from late August through early November, with some playoff games andholiday rivalry contests being played as late as Thanksgiving. In many American states, the championship games take place in early December.College football's regular season runs from September through November, while the mainprofessional circuit, theNational Football League, plays from September through to early January.
Summer sports, such as association football (in Northern America, East Asia and South Africa),Canadian football,stock car racing, tennis, golf,cricket, and professional baseball, wrap up their seasons in early to late autumn;Major League Baseball's championshipWorld Series is popularly known as the "Fall Classic".[29] (Amateur baseball is usually finished by August.) Likewise, professional winter sports, such asice hockey and basketball, and most leagues of association football in Europe, are in the early stages of their seasons during autumn; Americancollege basketball andcollege ice hockey play teams outside theirathletic conferences during the late autumn before their in-conference schedules begin in winter.
The Christian religious holidays ofAll Saints' Day andAll Souls' Day are observed in autumn in the Northern hemisphere. Easter falls in autumn in the southern hemisphere.
Since 1997,Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the United States.[30]
Iranians celebrate the beginning of the autumn during the festival ofMehregan (Persian:مهرگان). Indians celebrate the beginning of autumn during the festivals ofVijayadashami andDiwali.
In Indian mythology, autumn is considered to be the preferred season for the goddess of learningSaraswati, who is also known by the name of "goddess of autumn" (Sharada).
In Asian mysticism, Autumn is associated with theelement ofmetal, and subsequently with the colour white, theWhite Tiger of the West, and death and mourning.
Althoughcolour change in leaves occurs whereverdeciduous trees are found, coloured autumnfoliage is noted in various regions of the world: most of North America, Eastern Asia (including China, Korea, and Japan), Europe, southeast, south, and part of the midwest of Brazil,[31][32] the forest ofPatagonia, eastern Australia and New Zealand'sSouth Island.
Eastern Canada andNew England are famous for their autumnal foliage,[33][34] and this attracts major tourism (worth billions of US dollars) for the regions.[35][36]
^Breyer, Gertraud (1993).Etruskisches Sprachgut im Lateinischen unter Ausschluss des spezifisch onomastischen Bereiches (in German). Peeters Publishers. pp. 412–413.ISBN90-6831-335-5.
^Tucker, T.G., Etymological Dictionary of Latin, Ares Publishers, 1976 (reprint of 1931 edition).
^Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, entry atautomn.
^Little, William et al.:The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1959 edition reprinted with corrections. The phrase "fall of the leaf" was first found in print in 1545 (volume I, page 670), and the usage of "fall" in this sense is noted as "now rare in [British] English literary use". The phrase "spring of the year" first appeared in print in 1530 (volume II, p. 1983).
^D'Alembert, Jean Le Rond (2013) [1751]. Holtrop, Ellen (ed.)."Autumn".The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Michigan Publishing. Retrieved31 March 2015.
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