Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or occurring in the spring.
- adj. Characteristic of or resembling spring.
- adj. Fresh and young; youthful.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The trade-name of diethylmalonvlurea, a colorless, crystalline powder, used in medicine as a soporific.
- Of or pertaining to the spring; belonging to the spring; appearing in spring: as, vernal bloom.
- Of or belonging to youth, the springtime of life.
- In botany, appearing in spring: as, vernal flowers.
- Done or accomplished in spring: as, the vernal migration or molt of birds
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to the spring; appearing in the spring.
- adj. Fig.: Belonging to youth, the spring of life.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh
- adj. of or characteristic of or occurring in spring
Etymologies
- Latin vērnālis, from vērnus, from vēr, spring; see wesr̥ in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The term vernal pool originally referred only to small, intermittently filled wetlands found in the Mediterranean-type climate of the western United States.”
“Historically, March 21 is known as the vernal equinox -- an equal balance of light and dark.”
The Huffington Post: Kari Henley: What Seeds Of Change Are You Planting This Spring?
“I have half filled this sheet, which capability I attribute, chiefly, to the sweet fields that are now smiling in vernal beauty before me.”
“The sun will cross precisely over the equator at 7: 44 this morning, a time known as the vernal or spring equinox.”
“Although generally isolated, they are sometimes connected to each other by small drainages known as vernal swales.”
“The ephemerally flooded depressions are called vernal pools.”
“This happens twice a year, and the times when the sun passes the equator are called the vernal or spring equinox and the autumnal equinox respectively.”
Kepler
“In the northern hemisphere the March equinox (or "first point of Aries") is called the vernal equinox; the September equinox ( "first point of Libra"), the autumnal.”
“When the night and day are equal in spring, the point which the sun occupies on the heavens is termed the vernal equinox.”
“Sidereal noon is when we have turned ourselves under the point where the sun crosses the equator in March, called the vernal equinox.”
Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘vernal’.
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 314 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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A Time of Gifts
lambent, gonfalon, ait, eyrie, haberdashery, belfry, capstan, spinney, barbican, hobnail, wharf, waterlogged and 64 more...
victoriapl "It was the end of March, an unusually warm and beautiful day in early spring; though all the days now seemed lovely and warm, bathed as they were in the vernal glow of a dying century."
The Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand
Dec 2, 2007
seanahan According to Wikipedia, fall came about later, probably due to "fall of the leaves". Vernal is Latin, and I'm not sure at what point "spring" took over. Oct 18, 2007
sionnach Well, there is the word estival. And probably something like hibernal as well. Oct 18, 2007
chained_bear Why vernal and autumnal, but wintry and summery? Oct 18, 2007