autumn

American  

[aw-tuhm] / ˈɔ təm /

noun

• autumns
  plural

1. the season between summer and winter; fall. In the Northern Hemisphere it is from the September equinox to the December solstice; in the Southern Hemisphere it is from the March equinox to the June solstice.

2. a time of full maturity, especially the late stages of full maturity or, sometimes, the early stages of decline.

   to be in the autumn of one's life.

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autumn British  

/ ˈɔːtəm /

noun

1. (sometimes capital)

   1. Also called (esp US): fall. the season of the year between summer and winter, astronomically from the September equinox to the December solstice in the N hemisphere and from the March equinox to the June solstice in the S hemisphere

   2. ( as modifier )

      autumn leaves

2. a period of late maturity, esp one followed by a decline

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• autumns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of autumn

1325–75; < Latin autumnus; replacing Middle English autumpne < Middle French autompne < Latin

Explanation

Autumn is the season after summer, when leaves fall from trees. It's also the season when the days get shorter and colder, and everything turns brown and drab, but people like it anyway, for the cocoa and cider, probably. Autumn is the third season of the year, coming after summer and before winter, and coinciding with the dropping of leaves from the trees as they go into a winter rest, which is why it's also called fall. We also use autumn metaphorically to talk about the seasons of a person's life, like that luminous older actress in the autumn of her career: she's not yet playing roles in nursing homes, but neither is she scampering around in bikinis.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

autumn autumns

On a dreary autumn day in 2022, Sarah Perry and her husband, Robert, were waiting for David, Robert’s father, at a department store in Norwich, England.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

With the super El Niño expected to peak over the next few months, the Met Office has already suggested that the rest of autumn and into the start of winter, will be warmer than average.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

The bears of Katmai spend summer and early autumn gorging themselves on salmon as they look to bulk up ahead of a long winter of hibernation.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

While the gilt market took Burnham’s fiscal plans in its stride, investors will want to see the arithmetic in the October 28 autumn budget, Monex Europe analysts said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

The comfy scent of evening chimney fires mingles with the autumn air as we walk back to the Mutton.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

The Russian leader also used a Chinese idiom to express to Xi how much he had missed him: “A day without you feels like three autumns have passed.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Tehran, located on the southern slopes of the Alborz Mountains, experiences hot, dry summers, sometimes rainy autumns and winters that can be harsh and snowy.

From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025

One wonders how long the USC deep-pocketed people will endure such failed expectations, such fruitless autumns, such ... mediocrity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025

Just an hour and a half from Los Angeles there’s a mountain community where there are actual seasons: Warm summers, crisp autumns, snowy winters and resplendent springs complete with daffodils all around.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2024

No raindrop falls in the storms of autumn that ever fell before, and the rain has fallen, and falls, and will fall throughout all the autumns of the years.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin