summer definition | Dictionary.com

sum⋅mer

1 [suhm-er]

–noun

1.	the season between spring and autumn, in the Northern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox, and in the Southern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox.

2.	the period comprising the months of June, July, and August in the U.S., and from the middle of May to the middle of August in Great Britain.

3.	a period of hot, usually sunny weather: We had no real summer last year.

4.	the hotter half of the year (opposed to winter ): They spend the summers in New Hampshire and the winters in Florida.

5.	the period of finest development, perfection, or beauty previous to any decline: the summer of life.

6.	a whole year as represented by this season: a girl of fifteen summers.

–adjective

7.	of, pertaining to, or characteristic of summer: Iced tea is a summer drink.

8.	appropriate for or done during the summer: summer clothes; summer sports.

9.	having the weather or warmth of summer: summer days in late October.

–verb (used without object)

10.	to spend or pass the summer: They summered in Maine.

–verb (used with object)

11.	to keep, feed, or manage during the summer: Sheep are summered in high pastures.

12.	to make summerlike.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME sumer, OE sumor; c. D zomer, G Sommer, ON sumar summer; akin to Skt samā half-year, year, OIr sam-, Welsh haf summer

Related forms:

sum⋅mer⋅less, adjective

sum⋅mer

2 [suhm-er]

–noun

1.	a principal beam or girder, as one running between girts to support joists.

2.	a stone laid upon a pier, column, or wall, from which one or more arches spring: usually molded or otherwise treated like the arch or arches springing from it.

3.	a beam or lintel.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME somer < AF; OF somier packhorse, beam < VL *saumārius, equiv. to L sagm(a) packsaddle (< Gk ságma) + -ārius -ary; see -er ²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To summer

sum·mer¹ (sŭm'ər)

The usually warmest season of the year, occurring between spring and autumn and constituting June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere, or, as calculated astronomically, extending from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox.
A period of fruition, fulfillment, happiness, or beauty.
A year: a girl of 13 summers.

v.   sum·mered, sum·mer·ing, sum·mers

v.   tr.
To lodge or keep during the summer: summered the herd in the south meadow.
v.   intr.
To pass the summer: They summered at a beach resort.
adj.

Of, having to do with, occurring in, or appropriate to the season of summer: summer heat; summer attire.
Grown during the season of summer: summer crops.

[Middle English sumer, from Old English sumor; see sem-² in Indo-European roots.]
sum'mer·ly adv. & adj.

sum·mer² (sŭm'ər)

A heavy horizontal timber that serves as a supporting beam, especially for the floor above.
A lintel.
A large, heavy stone usually set on the top of a column or pilaster to support an arch or lintel.

[Middle English, beam, pack animal, from Anglo-Norman sumer, from Vulgar Latin *saumārius, from Late Latin sagmārius, pertaining to a packsaddle, packhorse, from sagma, packsaddle; see sumpter.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Summer

Sum"mer\, n. [From Sum, v.] One who sums; one who casts up an account.

Summer

Sum"mer\, n. [F. sommier a rafter, the same word as sommier a beast of burden. See Sumpter.] (Arch.) A large stone or beam placed horizontally on columns, piers, posts, or the like, serving for various uses. Specifically: (a) The lintel of a door or window. (b) The commencement of a cross vault. (c) A central floor timber, as a girder, or a piece reaching from a wall to a girder. Called also summertree.

Summer

Sum"mer\, n. [OE. sumer, somer, AS. sumor, sumer; akin to OFries. sumur, D. zomer, OS. sumar, G. sommer, OHG. & Icel. sumar, Dan. sommer, Sw. sommar, W. haf, Zend hama, Skr. sam[=a] year. [root]292.] The season of the year in which the sun shines most directly upon any region; the warmest period of the year.

Note: North of the equator summer is popularly taken to include the months of June, July, and August. Astronomically it may be considered, in the northern hemisphere, to begin with the summer solstice, about June 21st, and to end with the autumnal equinox, about September 22d.

Indian summer, in North America, a period of warm weather late in autumn, usually characterized by a clear sky, and by a hazy or smoky appearance of the atmosphere, especially near the horizon. The name is derived probably from the custom of the Indians of using this time in preparation for winter by laying in stores of food.

Saint Martin's summer. See under Saint.

Summer bird (Zo["o]l.), the wryneck. [Prov. Eng.]

Summer colt, the undulating state of the air near the surface of the ground when heated. [Eng.]

Summer complaint (Med.), a popular term for any diarrheal disorder occurring in summer, especially when produced by heat and indigestion.

Summer coot (Zo["o]l.), the American gallinule. [Local, U.S.]

Summer cypress (Bot.), an annual plant (Kochia Scoparia) of the Goosefoot family. It has narrow, ciliate, crowded leaves, and is sometimes seen in gardens.

Summer duck. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The wood duck. (b) The garganey, or summer teal. See Illust. of Wood duck, under Wood.

Summer fallow, land uncropped and plowed, etc., during the summer, in order to pulverize the soil and kill the weeds.

Summer rash (Med.), prickly heat. See under Prickly.

Summer sheldrake (Zo["o]l.), the hooded merganser. [Local, U.S.]

Summer snipe. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The dunlin. (b) The common European sandpiper. (c) The green sandpiper.

Summer tanager (Zo["o]l.), a singing bird (Piranga rubra) native of the Middle and Southern United States. The male is deep red, the female is yellowish olive above and yellow beneath. Called also summer redbird.

Summer teal (Zo["o]l.), the blue-winged teal. [Local, U.S.]

Summer wheat, wheat that is sown in the spring, and matures during the summer following. See Spring wheat.

Summer yellowbird. (Zo["o]l.) See Yellowbird.

Summer

Sum"mer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Summered; p. pr. & vb. n. Summering.] To pass the summer; to spend the warm season; as, to summer in Switzerland.

The fowls shall summer upon them. --Isa. xviii. 6.

Summer

Sum"mer\, v. t. To keep or carry through the summer; to feed during the summer; as, to summer stock.

Language Translation for : summer

Spanish: verano,

German: der Sommer; Sommer-…,

Japanese: 夏

More Translations »

summer (1)

"hot season of the year," O.E. sumor, from P.Gmc. *sumur- (cf. O.S., O.N., O.H.G. sumar, O.Fris. sumur, M.Du. somer, Du. zomer, Ger. Sommer), from PIE base *sem- (cf. Skt. sama "season, half-year," Avestan hama "in summer," Armenian amarn "summer," O.Ir. sam, O.Welsh ham, Welsh haf "summer"). O.N. sumarsdag, first day of summer, was the Thursday that fell between April 9 and 15. For Indian summer see India. The verb meaning "to pass the summer" is recorded from c.1440. Summer camp is attested from 1893; summer resort is from 1832; summer school first recorded 1860; theatrical summer stock id attested from 1942. Summertime is recorded from 1377; in Britain, as two words, with ref. to what in U.S. is "daylight saving time," it is recorded from 1916.

summer (2)

"horizontal bearing beam," 1288, from Anglo-Fr. sumer, O.Fr. somer "main beam," originally "pack horse," from V.L. *saumarius, from L.L. sagmarius "pack horse," from sagma "packsaddle" (see sumpter).

SUMMER
String manipulation and pattern matching language by Klint & Sint at CWI in the late 1970s. It was recently used as the input and implementation language for the Dataflow Compiler Project at CWI.
["An Overview of the SUMMER Programming Language", Paul Klint, 7th POPL, ACM 1980, pp. 47-55].

summer

warmest season of the year, between spring and autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is usually defined as the period between the summer solstice (year's longest day), June 21 or 22, and the autumnal equinox (day and night equal in length), September 22 or 23; and in the Southern Hemisphere, as the period between December 22 or 23 and March 20 or 21. The temperature contrast between summer and the other seasons exists only in middle and high latitudes; temperatures in the equatorial regions generally vary little from month to month. For physical causes of the seasons, see season.

Learn more about summer with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source

Search another word or see summer on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us