• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dear Sabrina

  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Beauty
  • Thinking
  • Miscellany
  • About
    • Now
You are here: Home / Thinking / Four Fun Words

Four Fun Words

December 28, 2016 By Jodi

Definition of vernal

I love words. In high school, my English class was roundly chastised by our teacher for not being intellectually curious enough to look up words we didn't know (while reading Crime and Punishment—I sort of felt getting through that tome was task enough without having to stop every page or two to look up new words!). Since that day, I've made a habit of underlining and looking up words I'm unfamiliar with, something I more or less keep up (depending, of course, on exactly how horizontal I am on the couch while reading).

Years ago, I came across a surprising word that I should have known existed, but didn't. It was the adjectival form of the word winter. Do you know what it is?

Of course, because of the equinoxes, I was already familiar with the words vernal and autumnal:

autumnal: 1. belonging to or suggestive of autumn; produced or gathered in autumn: autumnal colors. 2. past maturity or middle life.
vernal: 
1. of or relating to spring: vernal sunshine. 2. appearing or occurring in spring: vernal migratory movements. 3. appropriate to or suggesting spring; springlike: vernal greenery. 4. belonging to or characteristic of youth: vernal longings.

But I had no idea that summer and winter had their own adjectival forms too (outside of summery and wintry, that is). Until I came across the word brumal in a book I was reading (sorry, I can't recall the book now and it isn't in my notes anywhere). Of course, I picked up the nearest dictionary (this was back in the days when people used real, physical dictionaries, rather than apps or smartphones). I learned:

brumal: 1. wintry.
1505-15; < Latin brūmālis of, pertaining to winter. See brume, -al

Neat, huh?

But. This only led to another question: what was the adjective for summer? The beginning of spring is the vernal equinox, and the beginning of fall is the autumnal equinox; but this line of celestial reasoning didn't get me anywhere, as we call the beginning of summer simply the summer solstice. I looked in regular dictionaries and dictionaries of etymology, but got nowhere. This question stuck with me for years. 

And then one day, I was sitting in a library in Maryland using a public computer, and I noticed an "ask the librarian" chat feature. This was it! I typed my question into the chat box and waited for the librarian's response. She didn't know off the top of her head, but she knew how to find the answer, and soon she sent it back to me:

estival (sometimes aesitval): 1. pertaining or appropriate to summer.
1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin aestīvālis, equivalent to Latinaestīv (us) of or relating to summer + -ālis -al

So there we have it: vernal, estival, autumnal, brumal. Do you feel a bit smarter now? What's the coolest word you've learned lately?

All definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.

Photo by me.

For another geeky post, check out this one on the Oxford comma. Also, check out my new Now page!

Filed Under: Thinking Tagged With: definitions, dictionary, grammar, words

Previous Post: « Adding a "Now" Page
Next Post: August's Haircut »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristin

    December 29, 2016 at 2:43 am

    Defenestrate- to throw someone out of a window. I love working in a department with a Latin teacher.

    Reply
  2. Laura

    December 31, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    I dig it! I'll think of this the next time I'm on estival holiday 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

Connect & Follow

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Receive the weekly newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd )

Search

Categories

  • Beauty
  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Miscellany
  • Thinking

Popular Posts

White house with white fence in autumn

Sharing (More) Big News

Leif painting with yellow

Spending 1-on-1 Time With Kids

Jodi-pregnant-carl-eldhs-studio-museum

Friday Fun: the Bump

Red converse sneakers

Sailor Moon and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Follow

Instagram

Weekend escape to the coast. South of Yachats. Weekend escape to the coast. South of Yachats.
Morning couch snuggles with our newest housemates. Morning couch snuggles with our newest housemates.
My wine did this yesterday. Is this a bad sign? My wine did this yesterday. Is this a bad sign?
How an evening should be. How an evening should be.
So the other night I was drinking a margarita by t So the other night I was drinking a margarita by the fireside and reading the Girls Night In newsletter. At the end they asked readers to respond it a question, so I did. (A bit tipsy, mind you). Apparently they liked my response, and they shared it with their IG community (just a cool 134k followers), and I have been over the moon with the response. The comments have been a treasure to read. Thanks, @girlsnightinclub, for what you do and the community you’ve created.
Glorious time at the coast today. Our first trip t Glorious time at the coast today. Our first trip to Seal Beach. Somehow everything was perfect about it and we ran around and tidepooled and flew kites and rearranged driftwood and rocks and ran in and out of the waves for hours.
We did the thing where you go to a place and there We did the thing where you go to a place and there’s stuff on the ground. 3 out of 5 had fun. 1 out of 5 denies having had fun, despite having had fun. 1 out of 5 wore THIN COTTON PANTS despite many better options and much advice to the contrary and was miserable the whole time and thus did not have fun.
Merry Christmas y’all. May something make you as Merry Christmas y’all. May something make you as happy as this Christmas special makes me.
Follow on Instagram

Footer

About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. More about me…

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2021 · Jodi Elliott