Home / Weather News /

- It's autumn! Or is it fall?

12:00 PM
September 5, 2022

It's autumn! Or is it fall?

Autumn leaves

It’s autumn! Or is it fall? Ask anyone right now and 99 out of 100 will tell you we are heading into autumn, so why did the Americans opt for fall?

The truth is, both words for the season are of British origin. Of the two, autumn came into use first somewhere in the 1300s having been adopted from the Latin autumnus.

Fall meanwhile didn’t arrive for another 300 years, poets at the time began using the phrase ‘the fall of the leaves’ which was eventually shortened to just fall in the 1600s.

Despite the head start, when the British empire expanded to the east coast of what is now the USA both words were used by the initial settlers. But with a lack of contact between Britain and the new colonies our languages diverged.

To begin with autumn remained popular, but by the mid-1800s the rise of ‘fall’ in America was clear.

There is another caveat to add in that autumn itself was a replacement in Britain. Before its use, the season was usually referred to as ‘harvest’. Clearly this would create confusion with no differential in the season harvest and the actual harvest of crops.

More on the topic
Summer brings the heat and the water activities with it!
Monday, June 2, 2025

Bye, spring!

Meteorological summer is here!
Sleeping cat
Sunday, April 20, 2025

Seasonal tiredness

What causes spring fatigue?
Saturday, May 3, 2025

May astronomy outlook

Meteor shower and the Flower Moon
All weather news
This might also interest you
Friday, June 20, 2025

Daily briefing

Say hello to Summer
Thursday, June 19, 2025

Daily briefing

Summer heat expands nationally
Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Flash flood risk, too

Central Plains' destructive 100 mph gusts
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.com

instagramfacebookthreadsContact uslinkList
Privacy policy | Legal info