summer (1)
"hot season of the year," O.E. sumor, from P.Gmc. *sumur- (cf. O.S., O.N., O.H.G. sumar, O.Fris. sumur, M.Du. somer, Du. zomer, Ger. Sommer), from PIE base *sem- (cf. Skt. sama "season, half-year," Avestan hama "in summer," Armenian amarn "summer," O.Ir. sam, O.Welsh ham, Welsh haf "summer"). O.N. sumarsdag, first day of summer, was the Thursday that fell between April 9 and 15.
Summer camp is attested from 1893; summer resort is from 1832; summer school first recorded 1860; theatrical summer stock is attested from 1942.
Indian summer
"spell of warm weather after the first frost," first recorded 1778, Amer.Eng., perhaps so called because it was first noted in regions inhabited by Indians, or because the Indians first described it to the Europeans. No evidence connects it with the color of fall leaves or a season of Indian attacks on settlements. It is the Amer.Eng. version of British All-Hallows summer, Fr. été de la Saint-Martin (feast day Nov. 11), etc. Also colloquial was St. Luke's summer (or little summer), period of warm weather occurring about St. Luke's day (Oct. 18).
List of abbreviations.
- Online Etymology Dictionary -
Dog days
–noun
1. the sultry part of the summer, supposed to occur during the period that Sirius, the dog Star, rises at the same time as the sun: now often reckoned from July 3 to August 11.
2. a period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence.
And, interestingly,
Canicula (kəˈnɪkjʊlə)
— noun
another name for Sirius
[Latin, literally: little dog, from canis dog]
Footnote:
"It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial-Jorge Luis Borges, Prologue to "El otro, el mismo."
repositories, put together well after the languages they
define. The roots of language are irrational and of a
magical nature."
