Every year around this time, I hear people call this season different names – two namely. There is a bit of a debate as to whether we should call this time of year autumn or fall. Some believe autumn has a nice ring to it, while others think fall is more appropriate. I switch back and forth myself between the two names. I suppose it depends on my audience. If I am writing a poem, academic piece, or story I would use autumn. If I am teaching my fourth grade class or talking amongst friends, I may use fall. This “seasonal debate” may very well trickle down to your audience and how educated or poetic you want to make yourself sound. Whichever name you prefer, did you know why we even say fall to begin with?
Harvest, which we now refer to as fall or autumn, derives from the Old Norse word haust meaning “to gather or pluck”. This signified that farmers during this time of year would have to reap what they have sowed and gathered their harvest. This word eventually disappeared, however, in the early 1600s due to cities growing larger therefore diminishing the amount of farmers – and their lingo. The new and numerous city dwellers began using the Old English word feallan meaning “to fall or die.” Fall also has Germanic roots, still meaning “to fall or to die”, and when landing in North America, those of Germanic or Dutch descent lent their vernacular as well. This is how we were blessed with the name fall for this season. It is–more or less–because the leaves fall. How poetic. However, the word fall does offer dichotomy seeing as spring being the opposing season and directly across fall on the Wheel of the Year.
Regardless of its Germanic roots, autumn sounds much better. It was used around the 16th century, replacing harvest for the whole season. Autumn is actually derived from the French l’automne, which came from the Latin autumnus, the Roman name for this season.
I’m not sure if it is the English major and author in me, but I do prefer to say autumn when referring to this time of year. It sounds more romantic, poetic, and beautiful. Poets and writers such as Shakespeare in Midsummer Night’s Dream and Chaucer refer to this season as autumn. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any poems or works that lovingly use the word fall.
No matter what you call this time of year – Mabon, Samhain, Harvest, Fall, or Autumn – just know that we Americans don’t say fall because we are Neanderthals who think simply, “Leaf fall down.” There are roots of fall in other languages – Old English and German – and it may not sound as pretentious as autumn, but the etymology, history, and translation is there.
