A Word for All Seasons
Will be published approx. on 10. September 2026
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-1-85124-677-9 (ISBN)
Description
Silly season, spring chicken, Shrovetide, dog days, Halloween, wassail, Snowtober, Hogmanay and over 100 other words and phrases are brought together here to show how seasonal vocabulary has become one of the most productive areas of the English lexicon. Words associated with spring, summer, autumn - or fall - and winter, along with 'season' itself, have long been used creatively in such worlds as commerce, politics and the arts; music and painting especially provide famous cases of the popular appeal of the 'four seasons'. The entries in this book, alongside idioms, extracts from poetry and exquisite engravings by Eric Ravilious, demonstrate how these words and phrases have spread throughout the language.
Each entry gives an account of historical origins, tracing the development of meaning over time, and concluding with examples of current usage in everyday situations, some of which are decidedly unexpected. Appendices provide etymologies for the months of the year and wonderfully evocative folklore names for moons.
Few other lexical domains would bring together St Augustine, Antonio Vivaldi, James Joyce and Stormzy - just four of some 200 personalities that enliven the pages of this fascinating book.
Each entry gives an account of historical origins, tracing the development of meaning over time, and concluding with examples of current usage in everyday situations, some of which are decidedly unexpected. Appendices provide etymologies for the months of the year and wonderfully evocative folklore names for moons.
Few other lexical domains would bring together St Augustine, Antonio Vivaldi, James Joyce and Stormzy - just four of some 200 personalities that enliven the pages of this fascinating book.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
29 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85124-677-9 (9781851246779)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
DAVID CRYSTAL is a writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster on language, and honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University. His many books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CUP 3rd edn, 2019), A Date with Language (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2023), Bookish Words (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2025) and William Tyndale and the English Language (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2026). He lives online at www.davidcrystal.com.
ERIC RAVILIOUS (1903-1942) was a British painter, book illustrator and designer. He is known for his depictions of south-east England and also of urban scenes of the interwar period, and was an outstanding wood engraver. He died in the Second World War.
ERIC RAVILIOUS (1903-1942) was a British painter, book illustrator and designer. He is known for his depictions of south-east England and also of urban scenes of the interwar period, and was an outstanding wood engraver. He died in the Second World War.
Content
PREFACE 1
A SEASON OF SEASONS 3
season ? dead season ? equinox ? fashion season ? for all
seasons ? Four Seasons ? in season, out of season ? open
season, close season ? seasonality ? seasoning ? season
ticket ? silly season ? solstice ? travel seasons ? seasonal
sayings
SPRING 37
spring ? April Fool ? April showers ? Easter ? Easter
egg ? frondescence ? gowk storm ? hot cross buns ? Lady
Day ? lamb storm ? Lent ? little winter ? May ? paschal ?
primavera ? seedtime ? shrovetide ? simnel cake ? spring
chicken ? spring clean(ing) ? spring fever ? spring in
politics ? spring moons ? spring roll ? vernal ? zephyr ?
spring sayings
SUMMER 87
summer ? aestive ? Barnabas Day ? dog days ? heatwave ?
high summer ? Lammas ? long hot summer ? midsummer ?
St Swithun's Day ? strawberries and cream ? summer games ? summer house ? summer pudding ? summer
time ? summer sayings
AUTUMN/FALL 119
autumn/fall ? back end ? churn supper ? guy ? Halloween ?
harvest ? hay ? Indian summer ? Michaelmas ? reap ?
Thanksgiving ? autumn sayings
WINTER 145
winter ? Advent ? apple cider ? apricity ? boreal ? Boxing
Day ? brumal ? Candlemas ? Christingle ? Christmas ?
Christmas creep ? eggnog ? figgy pudding ? Groundhog
Day ? first footing ? Handsel Monday ? hibernal ? hiemal ?
Hogmanay ? Jack Frost ? Kris Kringle ? Lucy light ?
Martinmas ? mince pies ? mistletoe ? nival ? Plough
Sunday, Plough Monday ? plum duff ? Santa Claus ?
snow ? sugar plum ? wassail ? winter hedge ? winter of
discontent ? winter woollies ? Yule ? winter sayings
SEASON CONTRASTS 207
blends ? contrasts ? age ? living ? love ? transitions
A SEASON OF SEASONS 3
season ? dead season ? equinox ? fashion season ? for all
seasons ? Four Seasons ? in season, out of season ? open
season, close season ? seasonality ? seasoning ? season
ticket ? silly season ? solstice ? travel seasons ? seasonal
sayings
SPRING 37
spring ? April Fool ? April showers ? Easter ? Easter
egg ? frondescence ? gowk storm ? hot cross buns ? Lady
Day ? lamb storm ? Lent ? little winter ? May ? paschal ?
primavera ? seedtime ? shrovetide ? simnel cake ? spring
chicken ? spring clean(ing) ? spring fever ? spring in
politics ? spring moons ? spring roll ? vernal ? zephyr ?
spring sayings
SUMMER 87
summer ? aestive ? Barnabas Day ? dog days ? heatwave ?
high summer ? Lammas ? long hot summer ? midsummer ?
St Swithun's Day ? strawberries and cream ? summer games ? summer house ? summer pudding ? summer
time ? summer sayings
AUTUMN/FALL 119
autumn/fall ? back end ? churn supper ? guy ? Halloween ?
harvest ? hay ? Indian summer ? Michaelmas ? reap ?
Thanksgiving ? autumn sayings
WINTER 145
winter ? Advent ? apple cider ? apricity ? boreal ? Boxing
Day ? brumal ? Candlemas ? Christingle ? Christmas ?
Christmas creep ? eggnog ? figgy pudding ? Groundhog
Day ? first footing ? Handsel Monday ? hibernal ? hiemal ?
Hogmanay ? Jack Frost ? Kris Kringle ? Lucy light ?
Martinmas ? mince pies ? mistletoe ? nival ? Plough
Sunday, Plough Monday ? plum duff ? Santa Claus ?
snow ? sugar plum ? wassail ? winter hedge ? winter of
discontent ? winter woollies ? Yule ? winter sayings
SEASON CONTRASTS 207
blends ? contrasts ? age ? living ? love ? transitions