Etymologically
Log in

season

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 01:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsiː.zən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sesoun, borrowed from Old French seison or saison (“season; right moment”),[2][3] from Latin satiō (“a sowing, planting”) (accusative satiōnem),[2][3] from satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *sē- (“to sow”), the root also of sow, seed and semen.[2][6] In Vulgar Latin the word shifted from “act of sowing” to “time of sowing”, especially spring as the main sowing time, and in Old Provençal and Old French it came to mean any of the four seasons.[2][6][7] Spanish estación and Italian stagione are unrelated, coming from Latin statiō (“station”).[2] The verb is sesounen, partly from the noun and partly from Old French saisonner (“to ripen, season”).[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A proper time or suitable occasion, and a time of year marked by some activity (probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder).[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Seasons of weather are recorded about 1350, and one of the four quarters of the year (often summer season) in Piers Plowman, before 1376.[3] The wet and dry seasons of the tropics are so called from 1719.[2] The season, a period of annual festivity or social activity, is by 1791, hence season's greetings.[2] The verb first meant “to improve the flavour of with spices” (about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight),[3][2] a sense that grew in French from ripening fruit by the influence of the seasons.[9][8] Of timber, “to dry and harden for use”, is from 1540,[3][2] and of people, “to make fit by time or habit” (a seasoned traveller), from about 1600.[2] In other Indo-European languages the general word for a season is usually built on a word for “time”, as in Latin tempus (annī) and German Jahreszeit.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a suitable time, a time of year for some activity (Kyng Alisaunder).[3]
  • before 1325 – the time when a plant blooms or fruits.[3]
  • c. 1350 – a period of weather.[3]
  • before 1376 – one of the four seasons (Piers Plowman).[3]
  • c. 1380 – seasonable (Wycliffe).[3]
  • c. 1390 – verb, to flavour with spices.[3]
  • 1540 – verb, of timber, to dry and harden.[3]
  • c. 1600 – of people, to make fit by habit.[2]
  • 1719 – the wet and dry seasons of the tropics.[2]
  • 1791 – the season, a period of festivity.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. One of the four divisions of the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
  2. The rainy or dry period of the year in tropical regions.
  3. A recurring period marked by certain activities: the football season.
  4. The time when a fruit or food is at its best: in season.
  5. A period of festivity: the holiday season.
  6. An indefinite period: for a season.

Verb

  1. To improve the flavour of (food) with salt, spices or herbs.
  2. To add interest or zest to.
  3. To dry (timber) until ready for use.
  4. To make experienced or competent: a seasoned traveller.
  5. To moderate, temper.

Word family

  • seasonedly
  • seasoner
  • seasonless
  • off-season
  • post-season
  • preseason
  • seasonable
  • seasonal
  • seasoning
  • sow
  • seed
  • semen
  • disseminate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press