Autumn or
Fall (
/ˈɔːtəm/,
/ˈɑːtəm/ or
/fɔːl/,
/fɑːl/, respectively) is one of the four
temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from
summer into
winter, in September (
Northern Hemisphere) or March (
Southern Hemisphere) when the arrival of
night becomes noticeably earlier.
The
equinoxes
might be expected to be in the middle of their respective seasons, but
temperature lag (caused by the thermal latency of the ground and sea)
means that seasons appear later than dates calculated from a purely
astronomical perspective. The actual lag varies with region. Some
cultures regard the autumnal equinox as "mid-autumn", others with a
longer lag treat it as the start of autumn.
[1] Meteorologists (and most of the
temperate countries in the southern hemisphere)
[2] use a definition based on months, with autumn being September, October and November in the northern hemisphere,
[3] and March, April and May in the southern hemisphere.
In
North America, autumn is usually considered to start with the September equinox.
[4] In traditional East Asian
solar term, autumn starts on or around 8 August and ends on about 7 November. In
Ireland, the autumn months according to the national meteorological service,
Met Éireann, are September, October and November.
[5] However, according to the
Irish Calendar which is based on ancient
Gaelic
traditions, autumn lasts throughout the months of August, September,
and October, or possibly a few days later, depending on tradition. In
Australia, autumn officially begins on March 1 and ends May 31
[6] According to United States tradition
[citation needed], autumn runs from the day after
Labor Day (i.e. the Tuesday following the first Monday of September) through
Thanksgiving (i.e. the fourth Thursday in November), after which the
holiday season that demarcates the unofficial beginning of winter begins.
The word
autumn comes from the
Old French word
autompne (
automne in
modern French), and was later normalised to the original
Latin word
autumnus.
[7] There are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but it became common by the 16th century.
Before the 16th century,
harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in other
West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch
herfst and German
Herbst).
However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living
in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people
whose use of language we now know), the word
harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and
autumn, as well as
fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season.
[8][9]
The alternative word
fall for the season traces its origins to old
Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, with the
Old English fiæll or
feallan and the
Old Norse fall
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 in
16th century England, a contraction of
Middle English expressions like "
fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year".
[10]
During the 17th century,
English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. While the term
fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America.
[citation needed]
Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary
harvest,
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 autumnal
harvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn
Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the Jewish
Sukkot
holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles"
(huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained
religious significance).
[citation needed]
There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest
of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn
or
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 poet
John Keats' poem
To Autumn, where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'.
While most foods are harvested during the autumn, foods particularly associated with the season include
pumpkins (which are integral parts of both Thanksgiving and
Halloween) and
apples, which are used to make the seasonal beverage
apple cider.
Autumn in poetry has often been associated with
melancholy.
The possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the
horizon. Skies turn grey, and many people turn inward, both physically
and mentally.
[11]
Similar examples may be found in Irish poet
William Butler Yeats' poem
The Wild Swans at Coole
where the maturing season that the poet observes symbolically
represents his own ageing self. Like the natural world that he observes
he too has reached his prime and now must look forward to the
inevitability of old age and death. French poet
Paul Verlaine's "
Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is likewise characterised by strong, painful feelings of sorrow.
Keats'
To Autumn, written in September 1819, echoes this sense of melancholic reflection, but also emphasises the lush abundance of the season.
In the
Anglosphere, most notably in
Anglo-America, autumn is also associated with the
Halloween season (which in turn was influenced by
Samhain, a Celtic autumn festival),
[12]
and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it, in the
U.S.A. The television, film, book, costume, home decoration, and
confectionery industries use this time of year to promote products
closely associated with such a holiday, with promotions going from early
September to 31 October, since their themes rapidly lose strength once
the holiday ends, and advertising starts concentrating on Christmas.
Autumn has a strong association with
American football, as the regular season begins during September and ends with playoff competition in December or January, in the winter season.
Canadian football,
on the other hand, begins in the summer, but extends its season through
the autumn season and into November. A normal activity for high schools
in the US is attending Friday night football games in Autumn, while
Sunday afternoons are reserved for the professional game, particularly
the
National Football League, and Saturdays are traditionally used for
college football. The sport is generally geared around fall weather and playing in cold elements.
Autumn also has strong ties to post-season
baseball,
with the autumnal equinox occurring with about a week left in the
regular season, depending on scheduling. Autumn baseball oftentimes
signifies excitement in the air for fans who root for teams on the cusp
of making the post-season, as well as those that made it. The
World Series, baseball's championship series which determines the champion of
Major League Baseball
for that season, is held in mid-to-late October (sometimes spilling
over into November to accommodate longer series) and is nicknamed the
"Fall Classic".
Television stations and networks, particularly in North America,
traditionally begin their regular seasons in autumn, with new series and
new episodes of existing series debuting mostly during late September
(series that debut outside the fall season are usually known as
midseason replacements). A sweeps period takes place in November to measure
Nielsen Ratings.
Autumn, particularly in most parts of the United States, also has a strong association with the
start 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 start of the fall season.
Since 1997, Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the United States.
[13]
In Indian mythology, autumn is considered to be the preferred season for the goddess of learning
Saraswati, who is also known by the name of "goddess of autumn" (Sharada).
Although
colour change in leaves occurs wherever
deciduous trees are found, coloured autumn
foliage is noted in various regions of the world: most of
Anglo-America,
Eastern Asia (including
China,
Korea, and
Japan),
Europe, parts of
Australia and
New Zealand.
Eastern
Canada and
New England are famous for their autumnal foliage,
[14][15] and this attracts major tourism (worth billions of U.S. dollars) for the regions.
[16][17]
