Deciduous
A deciduous tree is one that sheds its leaves annually, distinct from an evergreen tree that keeps its foliage
year-round. But, this autumnal adjective also has a much more poetic meaning of "not permanent"
or "transitory." Of these two, the scientific
"transitory" sense emerged first, but both stem from the Latin deciduus meaning
"falling down, falling off."
Gossamer
Pumpkin patches, apple
trees, and heaps of fallen leaves are a few images that may come to mind when
you think of autumn, but what about gossamer? This delightfully descriptive word
is defined as "a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in
the air in calm weather, especially in autumn." The term is
also used to refer to a delicate variety of gauze.
Cornucopia
The cornucopia, a symbol of abundance that many of us have come to associate with Thanksgiving, has its
roots in Greek mythology. The word comes from the Latin cornu copaie, meaning
"horn of plenty," and the horn in question belonged to the goat
Amalthaea, who suckled Zeus as an infant.
As one version of the
story goes, Zeus accidentally broke off one of Amalthaea's
horns. To make up for this, he promised the horn would always be filled with
whatever its owner desired ... apparently fruit and veggies?
Indian summer
An Indian summer is a period of warm, dry weather
occurring in late October or early November and following a period of colder
weather. The coinage of this term is uncertain, though one theory is that it
stems from the Native Americans' practice of gathering food for winter during
this unseasonable heat wave.
In Britain, an autumnal
warm spell can be called an All-Hallows summer.
Halloween
Speaking of All Hallows,
the word Halloween is a shortened version of the phrase All-Hallow-Even, which means
"Eve of All Saints." The term references the November 1 holiday, All
Saints' Day, which commemorates saints of the Christian church.
The customs of Halloween,
however, are linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which also occurred around November 1 to celebrate
the beginning of winter. Souls of those who had died were believed to return to
their homes, and people sometimes wore disguises to avoid being recognized by
the visiting ghosts.
Harvest moon
Harvest moon refers to the full moon
occurring nearest to the autumnal equinox. Before electricity, the extra
light provided by this brilliant moon allowed farmers to work into the night
gathering their crops during peak harvest season. Other names
for full moons in autumn include blood moon in October, frosty moon in
November, and long nights moon in December.
September
It refers to the ninth
month of the year, but the word September is formed from the Latin term septem, which means
"seven"; what's going on here?
This name is a relic of
the month's place in the Roman calendar. The Gregorian reform pushed the New
Year back two months from March to January, rendering September (along with
October, November, and December, respectively formed from the Latin words for
"eight," "nine," and "ten") a misnomer.