WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Au"tumn
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. auctumnus, autumnus, perh. fr. a root av to satisfy one's self: cf. F. automne. See Avarice.]
Definition : 1. The third season of the year, or the season between summer and winter, often called "the fall." Astronomically, it begins in the northern temperate zone at the autumnal equinox, about September 23, and ends at the winter solstice, about December 23; but in popular language, autumn, in America, comprises September, October, and November.

Note: In England, according to Johnson, autumn popularly comprises August, September, and October. In the southern hemisphere, the autumn corresponds to our spring.

2. The harvest or fruits of autumn. Milton.

3. The time of maturity or decline; latter portion; third stage. Dr. Preston was now entering into the autumn of the duke's favor. Fuller. Life's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge. Wordsworth.


Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913