While this equinox marks the first day of astronomical fall in the Northern Hemisphere, it signals the first day of spring for those in the Southern Hemisphere. The September equinox is the moment when the sun passes directly above earth’s celestial equator in a southward direction. Exactly what day does fall start this year? Find out here. In the Northern Hemisphere, the beginning of fall is always marked by the autumnal equinox between September 21-24, and it ends with the winter solstice, which is between December 20-23 every year. Astronomical FallĪstronomical fall uses the position of the earth in relation to the sun to determine when the fall season begins and ends. The two common ways to delineate the fall season are based on the astronomical calendar, which uses the two solstices and two equinoxes to define the seasons, and the meteorological calendar, where the four seasons are broken down into groupings of three months. In Britain, Australia, and other English-speaking countries, the term for these months is “autumn.” Although people use both names interchangeably in America, you’re much more likely to hear the word “fall.” When is Fall? Using the name “fall” is a uniquely American and Canadian behavior. While the exact reasons why aren’t completely clear, the term “fall” gradually fell out of favor for “autumn” in Britain, and by the time America won its independence, “fall” was primarily used by Americans. The new settlers brought with them the English language, which included both the words ”fall” and ”autumn.” Since either term was used in Britain at this time, they both made it to our shores.
It was originally short for the expressions “fall of the leaf” and “fall of the year.” Why is Autumn Called ”Fall” in America?īy the 17th Century, English emigration to the British Colonies in North America was at its peak. ”Autumn” came from the Latin word “autumnus”, and the Old French word “autompne” (“automne” in modern French), the origin of the word has connotations of “the passing of the year.” ”Fall” has Germanic roots and is found in Old English as “fiæll” or “feallan”, which both mean “to fall from a height.” ”Fall” became widely used in 16th Century England. Subsequently, “autumn” and ”fall” emerged as the popular terms to denote the season. As you can imagine, it was possibly confusing given that the word harvest is also used for the act of harvesting crops. For these city dwellers, the term “harvest” didn’t apply to their way of life.
People during this period were increasingly moving from rural farmland into larger metropolitan areas. Eventually, “Autumn” and ”Fall” Emerged as the Popular Terms
For those linguists out there, the word harvest is of Germanic origin and meant “picking,” “plucking, or “reaping,” all activities farmers would have been performing at this time of the year before winter. The season was referred to as “harvest” because people associated these months with the gathering of crops by farmers in preparation for winter storage-which typically occurred between August and November. The season between summer and winter has not always been referred to as either “fall“ or “autumn.“ Before the 16th Century, in England, it was usually referred to as “harvest,” or more accurately, “hærfest” in Old English.
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