au·tumn

(ô′təm)

1. The season of the year between summer and winter, during which the weather becomes cooler and many plants become dormant, extending in the Northern Hemisphere from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice and popularly considered to include the months of September, October, and November; fall. In the Southern Hemisphere autumn includes March, April, and May.

2. A period of maturity verging on decline.

adj.

1. Relating to or occurring in autumn: autumn foliage; autumn harvests.

2. Grown during the season of autumn: autumn crops.

[Middle English autumpne, from Old French autompne, from Latin autumnus.]

au·tum′nal (ô-tŭm′nəl) adj.

au·tum′nal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

autumn

(ˈɔːtəm)

1. (sometimes capital)

a. Also called (esp US): fall the season of the year between summer and winter, astronomically from the September equinox to the December solstice in the N hemisphere and from the March equinox to the June solstice in the S hemisphere

b. (as modifier): autumn leaves.

2. a period of late maturity, esp one followed by a decline

[C14: from Latin autumnus, perhaps of Etruscan origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

au•tumn

(ˈɔ təm)

n.

1. the season between summer and winter; fall: in the Northern Hemisphere, from the September equinox to the December solstice; in the Southern Hemisphere, from the March equinox to the June solstice.

2. a time of full maturity, esp. the late stages of maturity or the early stages of decline.

[1325–75; autompne < Latin autumnus]

au•tum•nal (ɔˈtʌm nl) adj.

au•tum′nal•ly, adv.

au·tumn

(ô′təm)

The season of the year occurring between summer and winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, it extends from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

autumn

In British English, autumn or the autumn is the season between summer and winter.

Saturday was the first day of autumn.

The vote will take place in the autumn.

If you want to say that something happens every year during this season, you say that it happens in autumn or in the autumn.

In autumn the berries turn orange.

Birth rates are lowest in the autumn.

Be Careful!
Don't say that something happens 'in the autumns'.

In American English, autumn is referred to as the fall.

In the fall we are going to England.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

autumn - the season when the leaves fall from the trees; "in the fall of 1973"

fall

Indian summer, Saint Martin's summer - a period of unusually warm weather in the autumn

autumnal equinox, fall equinox, September equinox - September 22

time of year, season - one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions; "the regular sequence of the seasons"

autumn

noun

Related words
adjective autumnal

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

الـخَرِيففَصل الخَريف

podzim

efterår

Herbst herbstlich

φθινόπωρο

aŭtuno

otoño

sügis

syksysyksyinen

automne automnal

jesen

ősz

haust

autunno

秋

가을

autumnus

ruduorudeninis

rudens

toamnă

jesen

јесен

höst

ฤดูใบไม้ร่วง

sonbahar güz

mùa thu

秋天秋季

autumn

[ˈɔːtəm] N (esp Brit) → otoño m
in autumn → en otoño
I like to go walking in (the) autumn → me gusta salir a pasear en otoño
in the autumn of 1998 → en el otoño de 1998
in early/late autumn → a principios/a finales del otoño
an autumn day → un día de otoño

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

autumn

[ˈɔːtəm] n → automne m
in autumn → en automne

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

autumn

(esp Brit)

n (lit, fig) → Herbst m; in (the) autumn → im Herbst; two autumns ago → im Herbst vor zwei Jahren

adj attr → Herbst-, herbstlich; autumn leaves → bunte (Herbst)blätter pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

autumn

[ˈɔːtəm]

1. n → autunno

2. adj → autunnale

autumn

(ˈoːtəm) noun

(American fall) the season of the year when leaves change colour and fall and fruits ripen.

autumnal (oːˈtamnəl) adjective

autumn

→ الـخَرِيف podzim efterår Herbst φθινόπωρο otoño syksy automne jesen autunno 秋 가을 herfst høst jesień outono осень höst ฤดูใบไม้ร่วง sonbahar mùa thu 秋天

autumn

n otoño

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He looketh afar o'er the waves, Wind-ruffled and deep and green; And the mantle of Autumn lies Over wood and hill and ravine.

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"Yes, I believe so," said my master; "but he is not nearly so lively as he was; my groom tells me that horses are always dull and weak in the autumn, and that I must expect it."

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From childhood's hour I have not been As others were - I have not seen As others saw - I could not bring My passions from a common spring - From the same source I have not taken My sorrow - I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone - And all I lov'd - I lov'd alone - Then - in my childhood - in the dawn Of a most stormy life - was drawn From ev'ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still - From the torrent, or the fountain - From the red cliff of the mountain - From the sun that 'round me roll'd In its autumn tint of gold - From the lightning in the sky As it pass'd me flying by - From the thunder, and the storm - And the cloud that took the form(When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view -

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He is settled in his present abode for the summer and autumn; and you and Mrs.

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In the course of the autumn, four Iroquois hunters, driven by the snow from their hunting grounds, made their appearance at the cantonment.

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In the autumn of 1806 everybody had again begun talking of the war with Napoleon with even greater warmth than the year before.

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It was an understood thing between them that they should not go away anywhere; but both felt, the longer they lived alone, especially in the autumn, without guests in the house, that they could not stand this existence, and that they would have to alter it.

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The long hot summer was drawing to a close; and we, the weary pilgrims of the London pavement, were beginning to think of the cloud-shadows on the corn-fields, and the autumn breezes on the sea-shore.

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The pleasant days of Spring and Summer passed away, and in little Annie's garden Autumn flowers were blooming everywhere, with each day's sun and dew growing still more beautiful and bright; but the fairy flower, that should have been the loveliest of all, hung pale and drooping on little Annie's bosom; its fragrance seemed quite gone, and the clear, low music of its warning chime rang often in her ear.

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Then when autumn comes, the maples give up trying to be sober and flame out in all the barbaric splendour and gorgeousness of their real nature, making of the hills things out of an Arabian Nights dream in the golden prime of good Haroun Alraschid.

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The days flew by; as summer had melted into autumn so autumn had given place to winter.

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Petersburg, at the time when we reached the city, we encountered nothing but rain, bitter autumn frosts, dull skies, ugliness, and crowds of strangers who looked hostile, discontented, and disposed to take offence.

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