autumn
Autumn (also known as Fall in North American English) is one of the four temperate seasons. [1]
Autumn is the season after summer and before winter. [2]
Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. [3]
In the Southern Hemisphere, it runs from the autumnal equinox (20 March) to the winter solstice (21 June). [2]
In the northern hemisphere, the start of autumn is generally considered to be around September, and in the southern hemisphere, its beginning is considered to be around March. [...] However as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and fall and autumn began to replace it as a reference to the season. [1]
In the Northern Hemisphere it is from the September equinox to the December solstice; in the Southern Hemisphere it is from the March equinox to the June solstice. [4]
In the Northern Hemisphere, it begins with the autumnal equinox (22 September) and ends with the winter solstice (21 December). [2]
Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier. [3]
The exact derivation is unclear, the Old English fi?ll or feallan and the Old Norse fall all being possible candidates. [5]
The term came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like “fall of the leaf” and “fall of the year”. [...] During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. [...] Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. [3]
There’s also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. [...] Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full moon harvest festival of “tabernacles” (huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained religious significance). [1]
Sources:
[1] Autumn
[2] Autumn - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] Autumn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[4] Autumn | Define Autumn at Dictionary.com
[5] autumn: Definition from Answers.com