summer
/ˈsʌmɚ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.23 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One of four seasons, traditionally the second, marked by the longest and typically hottest days of the year due to the inclination of the Earth and thermal lag. Typically regarded as spanning either the period between the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox, or the months of June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere and the months of December, January and February in the Southern Hemisphere.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Someone with light, pinkish skin that has a blue undertone, light hair and eyes, seen as best suited to certain colors of clothing.
Countable
noun
A horizontal beam supporting a building.
Example Sentences
- "the heat of summer"
- "Gradually, the end of summer hove into sight."
- "I'm going to the Gambia in the summer."
- "At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs."
- "A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well."
- "A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed. ¶ ‘Civilized,’ he said to Mr. Campion. ‘Humanizing.’[…]‘Cigars and summer days and women in big hats with swansdown face-powder, that's what it reminds me of.’"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *s(e)m-eh₂- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥-h₂-ór-o-der. Proto-Germanic *sumaraz Proto-West Germanic *sumar Old English sumor Middle English somer English summer From Middle English somer, sumer, from Old English sumor m, from Proto-West Germanic *sumar m, from Proto-Germanic *sumaraz m, derived from Proto-Indo-European *semh₂- (“summer”). Cognates Cognate with Scots somer, sumer, simer, West Frisian simmer, Saterland Frisian Suumer, Dutch zomer, Low German Sommer, German Sommer, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål sommer, Swedish sommar, Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic sumar; Welsh haf, Armenian ամ (am, “year”), ամառ (amaṙ, “summer”), Sanskrit समा (sámā, “a half-year, season, weather, year”), Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬨 (ham-), Middle Persian ḥʾmyn (hāmīn), Northern Kurdish havîn, Central Kurdish ھاوین (hawîn).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsʌmɚ/
- British English: /ˈsʌmə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
aftersummer
foresummer
midsummer
nonsummer
oversummer
presummer
sprummer
summercater
Summercon
summerer
summerfag
Summerfest
Phrases
All-Hallown Summer
apple summer disease
boys of summer
dog days of summer
double summer time
farewell-summer
go-summer
Great Summer Army