Apparently, yes and no.
Leaves are changing colors again. It’s getting cooler and kids are going back to school. Pumpkin spice, apples, and cinnamon are the first things you smell in department stores. Halloween decorations are on the shelves.
Is it Fall or Autumn? We tend to classify this time of year as both.
Did you know: The word Autumn originated in Britain?
In 13th England, it comes from the Latin word autumnus. Which translates to “a season, the third season, autumn” or “to cool off” in old Irish dialect.
Before the 13th century, People used to refer to this season as harvest. Unfortunately, this got to be confusing since harvest can also reference cropping season.
Thanks to poets, the phrase “the fall of the leaves” was coined and that’s how people started associating the word, Fall to the season after the 16th century. In the 17th century, “fall” came into use, almost certainly as a poetic complement to “spring.”
The word “Fall” was first entered into a dictionary in 1755 by Samuel Johnson in his Dictionary of the English Language.
The dictionary took just over eight years to compile, required six helpers, and listed 40,000 words.
In his dictionary, he would associate “fall” with decline or loss. While he would prefer to use “autumn” as the prime word for the season.
The season of the year between summer and winter, beginning astronomically at the equinox, and ending at the solstice; popularly, autumn comprises August, September, and October.
-Johnson’s definition of the third season
Fall was first used mostly by Americans while Autumn was still used by the British during the 19th century.
This is the legit reason why we associate both terms. The language difference between Americanized & British English is the cause.
The reason why we still associate the season with Autumn is the proximity of English culture and literature.
Some British lexicographers (people responsible for compiling dictionaries) have admitted they prefer fall over autumn.
“Fall is better on the merits than autumn, in every way: it is short, Saxon (like the other three season names), picturesque; it reveals its derivation to every one who uses it, not to the scholar only, like autumn.”
H.W. Fowler, “The King’s English” (1908)
At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what you call this season. Remember what it represents.
Change, Comfort, Maturity, Preservation, and Balance.
Enjoy this ever beautiful season.
