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Chris
09-23-2021, 04:09 PM
Since it's now Fall and the first welcome cold front has come in, I started wondering where the names of the seasons come from. This article explains. Some of the names go way back to PIE.

Why Do We Call the Seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter? (https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52813/how-did-seasons-get-their-names)


Before Spring was called Spring, it was called Lent in Old English. Starting in the 14th century, that time of year was called “springing time”—a reference to plants “springing” from the ground. In the 15th century this got shortened to “spring-time,” and then further shortened in the 16th century to just “spring.”

“Summer” came from the Old English name for that time of year, sumor. This, in turn, came from the Proto-Germanic sumur-, which itself came from the Proto-Indo-European root sam- (sam- seems to be a variant of the Proto-Indo-European sem-, meaning “together / one").

The origin of “fall” as a name for a season isn't perfectly clear, though it’s thought that it probably came from the idea of leaves falling from trees (particularly the contraction of the English saying “fall of the leaf"). It first popped up as a name for a season in late-16th century England and became particularly popular during the 17th century, at which point it made its way over to North America....

“Winter,” meanwhile, derives from the Proto-Germanic wentruz. This, in turn, probably comes from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) wed, meaning “wet,” or it may come from the PIE wind-, meaning “white.” Either way, the Proto-Germanic wentruz gave rise to the Old English “winter” as the fourth season of the year, and the name for the season has stuck around ever since....

The article also explains the origins of autumn and season.

donttread
09-23-2021, 08:04 PM
Since it's now Fall and the first welcome cold front has come in, I started wondering where the names of the seasons come from. This article explains. Some of the names go way back to PIE.

Why Do We Call the Seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter? (https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52813/how-did-seasons-get-their-names)



The article also explains the origins of autumn and season.


Well I got two of the four correct. Spring and fall.

Just AnotherPerson
07-15-2023, 03:35 AM
Since it's now Fall and the first welcome cold front has come in, I started wondering where the names of the seasons come from. This article explains. Some of the names go way back to PIE.

Why Do We Call the Seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter? (https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52813/how-did-seasons-get-their-names)



The article also explains the origins of autumn and season.


I think I heard once that it's possible that summer came from Sumeria, "Sumer". It was thought to be a time of abundance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer