summer English · revision 3549

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825 (Old English sumor)|origins=gem-pro *sumur-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsʌm.ə/, US /ˈsʌm.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sumer]] (also [[m|enm|somer]]), [[inh|ang|sumor]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*sumur-]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[ofs|sumur]], [[osx|sumar]], [[nl|zomer]], [[de|Sommer]] and [[non|sumar]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Outside Germanic it is related to [[sga|sam|t=summer]], [[cy|haf|t=summer]], Armenian amaṙn, “summer”, Avestan hama, “in summer”, and Sanskrit sámā, “season, half-year, year”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) all from [[ine-pro|*sem-|t=summer]].^(AHD 2000)^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The second and warmest season of the year: Old English ''sumor'', before 830^(Barnhart 1988) or about 825.^(OED 1989) Middle English ''sumer'' appears before 1121, in the ''Peterborough Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old and Middle English ''summer and winter'' meant “all year round”.^(OED 1989) A season of summer-like weather is from before 1240,^(OED 1989) and figurative uses, for a time of fulness or prosperity, from about 1535.^(OED 1989) In the plural with a number, ''summers'' has stood for years since the 14th century, now only in poetry or of a young person's age.^(OED 1989) A spell of fine weather in late autumn, as in ''Indian summer'', is from 1828.^(OED 1989) The adjective is from the 14th century.^(MW Collegiate) The verb “to pass the summer” is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) or about 1440,^(OED 1989) and “to provide summer pasture for cattle” from 1599.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – Old English ''sumor''.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1121 – Middle English ''sumer''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1240 – summer weather.^(OED 1989)

+ * 14th century – ''summers'' for years.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1440 – verb, to spend the summer.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1535 – figurative uses.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – verb, to pasture in summer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1828 – a fine spell in late autumn.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The usually warmest season of the year, between [[spring]] and [[autumn]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A period of fulfilment, happiness or beauty.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A year of one's age.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, in or suited to summer.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To spend the summer: ''they summer in Maine''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To keep or pasture animals during the summer.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[summerly]]

+ * [[summerlike]]

+ * [[summerless]]

+ * [[summertree]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[midsummer]]

+ * [[summertime]]

+ * [[summery]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate noun ''summer'', a main horizontal beam in a building, comes from Anglo-Norman ''sumer'', “packhorse; beam”, from Late Latin ''sagmārius'', from ''sagma'', “packsaddle”,^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) and is recorded from 1324;^(OED 1989) the English Dialect Dictionary found it widely in Scotland and England.^(Wright 1898) A third ''summer'', “one who adds”, is from the verb ''sum'', recorded from 1611.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}