Winter
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈwɪntə(ɹ)/
- US IPA: ˈwɪntÉš, ˈwɪɾ̃ɚ, enPR: wÄnʹtÉ™r
- Rhymes: -ɪntə(r)
- Homophones: winner US, Canada, some dialects
Origin
From Middle English, from Old English winter, from Proto-Germanic *wintruz. Compare West Frisian and Dutch winter, German Winter, Danish vinter.
Full definition of winter
Noun
winter
(plural winters)- Traditionally the fourth of the four seasons, typically regarded as being from December 23 to March 20 in continental regions of the Northern Hemisphere or the months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the time when the sun is lowest in the sky, resulting in short days, and the time of year with the lowest atmospheric temperatures for the region.
- a1420, The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056, Lanfranc's "Science of cirurgie." Chapter Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone, Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.
- ShakespeareAnd after summer evermore succeeds
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold. - (figurative) The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.
- WordsworthLife's autumn past, I stand on winter's verge.
Usage notes
Note that season names are usually spelled in all lowercase letters in English.