1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Season

SEASON (O. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year), a period of time, in particular, that of the four periods into which the year is divided by the changing of the temperature, rainfall, and growth and decay of vegetation due to the annual motion of the sun in declination. Divided strictly according to this motion the year falls into four nearly equal seasons, “spring” (i.e. the springing time, when vegetation rises or shoots), “summer” (O. Eng. sumer, cf. Dutch zomer, Ger. Sommer, probably connected with Skt. sama, year), “autumn” (Lat. autumnus, auctumnus, from augere, to increase, the period of ripening or fruiting) and “winter” (common Teutonic, possibly a nasalized form. of root seen in “wet”). (See further Climate, Meteorology.)