# autumn

Pronunciation: say "AW-tuhm" US /ˈɔtəm/, UK /ˈɔːtəm/

## Noun

1. The third of the four seasons, when deciduous trees shed their leaves and temperatures and daylight decline, spanning September through November in the Northern Hemisphere and March through May in the Southern.
   - Simple: The third season of the year, when leaves fall and the days get cooler and shorter.
   - _Autumn brought cooler mornings and the first frost to the valley._
   - _Farmers harvest most of their crops during autumn._
2. The period in which a person or thing has moved past its prime and begun a gradual decline.
   - Simple: The later stage of life or activity, after the best or strongest time has passed.
   - _She wrote her finest poems in the autumn of her life._
   - _By the 1970s the once-great studio was clearly in its autumn._
3. In color analysis, a person with relatively dark hair and a warm skin tone, regarded as best suited to certain colors in clothing.
   - Simple: In choosing clothes, a person with fairly dark hair and warm skin who looks best in certain colors.
   - _She's an autumn, which is why that mustard coat suits her so well._
   - _The consultant classified him as an autumn and steered him toward warm, muted shades._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To undergo the changes associated with the third season (leaves changing color and falling) or to cause something to do so.
- (verb) To pass the third season of the year residing in a particular place.

## Origin

This word came into Middle English as "autumpne" from Old and Middle French "automne", which came from Latin "autumnus". Some of the verb senses come from Latin "autumnāre".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/autumn (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).