Autumn

Autumn is an English vocabulary word defining one of the four seasons. It comes from the Latin “autumnus” via the Old French “autumpne” meaning “harvest time of plenty; the time of gathering crops”, perhaps taken from “auctus” meaning “to enhance, increase”. Originally the fall season was referred to as “hærfest” (harvest) in Olde English before being replaced with “autumpne” in Middle English (c. late 14th century) under French influence. In England, autumn falls between August and October while in the United States it’s September through November. In Greek Mythology, Demeter was the goddess who presided over the seasons. When Zeus stole her daughter, Persephone, and gave the girl to Hades (god of the underworld), the worried Demeter traveled to the four corners of the earth looking for her precious daughter. Unable to find Persephone, Demeter became so distraught that she ceased producing food on the earth. In order to save the dying earth and starving mortals, Zeus sent for Hermes (the messenger god) to retrieve Persephone from Hades. Hades agreed to let her go providing she didn’t eat any food in the underworld; but the girl unwittingly ate some pomegranate seeds just prior to her release. As a consequence, she is forced to return to the underworld for four months of the year. According to tradition, Persephone returns to earth during the seasons of autumn, winter and spring, but is back with Hades in the summer (when plant life is not flourishing and exposed to droughts). As a female given name, Autumn has only been around since the 1960s. It’s most popular in the United States, but is also used with respectable frequency in Canada and England.