WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Ver"nal
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [L. vernalis, fr. vernus vernal, ver spring; akin to Gr. vasanta, Icel. var, and E. Easter, east.]
Definition : 1. Of or pertaining to the spring; appearing in the spring; as, vernal bloom.

2. Fig.: Belonging to youth, the spring of life. When after the long vernal day of life. Thomson. And seems it hard thy vernal years Few vernal joys can show Keble.

Vernal equinox (Astron.), the time when the sun crosses the equator when proceeding northward. -- Vernal grass (Bot.), a low, soft grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), producing in the spring narrow spikelike panicles, and noted for the delicious fragrance which it gives to new-mown hay; -- also called sweet vernal grass. See Illust. in Appendix. -- Vernal signs (Astron.), the signs, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, in which the sun appears between the vernal equinox and summer solstice.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913