Wordology, Fall and Autumn

Although both words refer to the same season, Americans often say “fall” more than “autumn.” Fall and autumn were both once known as “harvest,” according to Dictionary.com and “harvest” is technically the earliest name for this season. The phrase was a bit confusing, because it refers to both the time people usually harvest crops and the actual harvesting of crops. Because of this, “Autumn,” a word dating back to the late 1300s, became popular as an alternative.

The word “fall” likely stems from “falling of the leaves,” phrases poets liked, according to Merriam-Webster. Not long after, people shortened the phrase to “fall” in the 1600s.

Although both fall and autumn stem from Britain, autumn was the more popular word for a long time. Both have had their ups and downs in popularity. It was not until the 1800s that American English and British English took unofficial stances on these words: fall is the word of choice in the U.S. and autumn in Britain.

Autumn, Fall

Yikes, tomorrow September 22 at exactly 9:54 P.M. EDT is the first day of Fall (as in fall of the leaf) in the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn is also the season that comes between summer and winter. Fall is the common American and Canadian term for Autumn. Before both of those terms, it was called Harvest.

Incidentally, September 1 is the beginning of Spring in Australia and New Zealand.

Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal or Fall Equinox is a floating date around September 22-23 that marks the first day of autumn, when day and night are of equal lengths. The sun crosses the equator moving southward (in the northern hemisphere). The Autumnal Equinox marks the beginning of shorter days and longer nights and the passage into winter. On this day, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west; the sun will begin to rise at the South Pole after six months of darkness, to bring six months of daylight; and the zenith passes directly overhead on the equator, so the sun casts no shadows. For centuries, friends have gathered to celebrate the day and strengthen their spirits in preparation for the passage into winter.

Seven Spring Facts

The vernal (spring) equinox (‘equal night’) is the day when the center of the Sun is visible for exactly 12 hours. That is not the same as the ‘equilux’ (equal light) when there are 12 hours of daylight from the Sun’s first appearance and its going down. Australia and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere begin the first day of autumn at the same time and there is a movement to call this event the March Equinox or Northward Equinox to avoid a North Hemisphere bias.

Astronomically, spring officially begins on the spring equinox.

The spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the Sun rises directly due east and sets due west in the northern hemisphere.

The reason there is more daylight during the spring is the earth’s axis tilts toward the sun at this time of year.

We have used the word ‘spring’ for the season since the 16th century. Before that spring was used for centuries to apply to the source of a river and the spring season was known as Lent or Lenten.

The Slatina spring in Slovenia is alleged to have been discovered by the mythological winged horse Pegasus.

The earliest known use of the term ‘spring-cleaning’ was in 1857.