vernal

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See also: Vernal

English

WOTD – 19 March 2020

Etymology

PIE word
*wósr̥
Japanese cherry trees (Lua error in Module:parameters at line 828: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template.) in the grounds of Kenchō-ji (the Kenchō Temple) in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The blooming of cherry blossoms heralds the vernal season (sense 1) or spring in Japan.

From Latin vernālis (“(rare) of or pertaining to spring; vernal”), from vērnus (“of or pertaining to spring; vernal”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). Vērnus is derived from vēr (“season of spring”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”)) + -nus (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is cognate with Old French vernal (modern French vernal), Italian vernale (“pertaining to spring; vernal”), Occitan vernal, Portuguese vernal (“pertaining to spring; vernal”), Spanish vernal (“pertaining to spring; vernal”).[1]

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈvɜːn(ə)l/
    • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈvɝnəl/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl
  • Hyphenation: vern‧al

Adjective

vernal (comparative more vernal, superlative most vernal) (formal, literary)

  1. Pertaining to or occurring in spring. [from mid 16th c.]
    Synonyms: springlike, spring-like; (rare) springly
    • 1633, Thomas Bancroft, The Glvttons Feauer, London: Printed by Iohn Norton, for William Cooke, […], →OCLC; quoted in “Bancroft, (Thomas.)—The Glvttons Feauer. […] 1633.”, in Thomas Corser, editor, Collectanea Anglo-Poetica: Or, A Bibliographical and Descriptive Catalogue of a Portion of a Collection of Early English Poetry, […] (Remains Historical & Literary Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester; LII), part I, [Manchester]: Printed for the Chetham Society, 1860, →OCLC, page 139:
      For as a vernall Larke, but lately drest / In her first Downe, abandoning her nest, / Stretchest her pinions, her small force assayes / Flutters, and fals before her flight shee raise, [...]
    • 1640, Ovid, “The Fifth Book; Or, May”, in John Gower, transl., edited by Edward Alliston, Ovids Festivalls, or Romaine Calendar, Translated into English Verse Equinumerally, [Cambridge, Cambridgeshire]: Printed by Roger Daniel, printer to the University of Cambridge; [a]nd are to be sold by M[ichael] S[parke] junior, […], →OCLC, page 107:
      To my requeſt this anſwer ſhe bequeath'd, / Whiles from her lips the vernall Roſes breath'd; [...]
    • 1671, R[alph] Bohun, “[Of the Etesian, or Anniversary VVinds: Their Several Species]”, in A Discourse Concerning the Origine and Properties of VVind. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by W. Hall for Tho[mas] Bowman, →OCLC, pages 118–119:
      [...] I have in England for ſome years paſt, kept by me an exact table, or Ephemeris both of the Vernall, and Summer Eteſians; but found the VVinds no leſſe Variable in thoſe Months, then at other Seaſons.
    • 1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act I, page 15:
      Look round: the vernal fields smile with new flowers, / The budding orchard perfumes the soft breeze, / And the green corn waves to the passing gale.
    • 1807, “APHIS”, in The Complete Farmer; or, General Dictionary of Agriculture and Husbandry: […], 5th re-written and enlarged edition, volume I, London: Printed by Rider and Weed, […]; for R. Baldwin; [et al.], →OCLC, column 1:
      Their [aphids'] punctures of the leaves of peach and nectarine trees in the vernal months; and of cherry, plum, and currant-trees in the summer, produce a swelling and elevation of the cuticle of the leaf on its upper side, and consequent curling of it with its upper surface outwards, which terminates in a destruction of it, [...]
    • 1952, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth: Travels in Burma, London: Jonathan Cape, →OCLC; republished London: Readers Union; Jonathan Cape, 1954, →OCLC, page 120:
      On we went in this way, mile after mile, over hills and through valleys inundated with a frothing, vernal vegetation and filled with the odour of newly watered ferns in a glasshouse.
    • 2015, Brian A. Pavlac, “Liberation of Mind and Body: Early Modern Europe, 1543 to 1815”, in A Concise Survey of Western Civilization: Supremacies and Diversities throughout History, 2nd edition, volume 2 (1500 to the Present), Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 223:
      A religious problem unexpectedly triggered the invention of modern science. [...] According to the Julian calendar, the first day of spring (the vernal equinox, when the hours of day exactly equaled those of night) should occur around 21 March. By the fifteenth century, the vernal equinox fell in early April. The church feared that this delay jeopardized the sanctity of Easter (which was celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox). The Counter-Reformation papacy, eager to have its structures improved and reformed, called on intellectuals to come up with both an explanation about the Julian calendar's errors and a solution.
  2. (figuratively) Having characteristics like spring; fresh, young, youthful.

Usage notes

Vernal is used mostly in technical contexts (as in e.g. vernal equinox) or poetic contexts. In everyday language, attributive use of spring predominates, as in spring colors, spring flowers, spring equinox.

Alternative forms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “vernal, adj. (and n.)”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1917; “vernal, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

Portuguese

Adjective

vernal m or f (plural vernais)

  1. vernal (pertaining to spring)

Romanian

Etymology

From French vernal, from Latin vernalis.

Adjective

vernal m or n (feminine singular vernală, masculine plural vernali, feminine and neuter plural vernale)

  1. vernal

Declension

Declension of vernal
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite vernal vernală vernali vernale
definite vernalul vernala vernalii vernalele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite vernal vernale vernali vernale
definite vernalului vernalei vernalilor vernalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vernālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

vernal m or f (masculine and feminine plural vernales)

  1. vernal (pertaining to spring)
    Synonym: primaveral

Derived terms

Further reading

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