Etymologically
Log in

summertime

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 01:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsʌmətaɪm/[1]
  • US: /ˈsʌmɚtaɪm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English somer tyme, also somertime,[2][3] a compound from Middle English somer + time,[4][3][5][6] that is, summer and time.[4] Earlier words for the season were summertide, recorded from the mid 13th century, and late Old English sumeres tid.[2][4] Compare wintertime.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The season of summer: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus's De Proprietatibus Rerum;[4] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense of the summer season, and later also of a period like summer.[4][3] In 1916 summer time, usually as two words and often with capitals, was adopted in Britain for the standard time set one hour ahead of ordinary time during the summer months, what in the United States is called daylight saving time.[4][2][3] In American dining-room slang of the late 19th century summer time was a name for bread and milk (1887) and for oatmeal (1897).[7]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – the season of summer.[4][2]
  • 1887 – US slang, bread and milk.[7]
  • 1916 – summer time, clock time set an hour ahead in summer, in Britain.[4][2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The season of summer, or a period like it: The beach town is crowded in summertime.[3][4][5]
  2. (chiefly British, usually summer time) Standard time set one hour ahead of ordinary time during the summer; daylight saving time.[4][3][5]
  • summer
  • time
  • summertide
  • wintertime

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com