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

Ships float off the coast throughout the year, but autumn ushers in one of the biggest sailing regattas on the Mediterranean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The competition resumes later in the year for the autumn leg with England next in action against Australia on 8 November.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The oil will last their household of four, which includes her mother, daughter and husband, until the autumn.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The two-dose vaccine will be offered to those deemed most at risk from the infection, including Year 14 students and under-25s starting university or a Higher Education institution for the first time this autumn.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

A tree whose leaves had made a head start on autumn and turned red before any of the others.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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

The story leaps two autumns ahead, when Odd happens along and helps Sook and Buddy as they struggle to haul a tub of chrysanthemums to their porch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 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