In defence of a dogma: "Summer follows Spring"

Is it so?


summer [OE. sumor masc. Generally recognized cognates outside Germanic are
Arm. amarn summer, Skr. sama¯ half-year, year, Zend hama in summer, OIr.
sam, W. haf summer.]
1
a
1
The second and warmest season of the year, coming between spring and
autumn; reckoned astronomically from the summer solstice (21 June) to the
autumnal equinox (22 or 23 Sept.)
2
In popular use comprising in the northern hemisphere the period from
mid-May to mid-August
3
Also often, in contradistinction to winter, the warmer half of the year
(cf. midsummer). (Often with initial capital.)
First use:
825 Vesp. Psalter lxxiii. 17 Aestatem, sumur.
Used either (a) in general or (b) in particularized use, esp. with
qualification or contextually, denoting this season in a certain year.


-- the OED can be so obvious! They obviously needed some Quine employed
there! it should be SHORTER still...


(c) Phr. "summer and winter" = all the year round.
b
Applied, with qualification, to a period of fine dry weather in late autumn
see All-Hallows
Indian summer.
a
A period of calm, dry, mild weather, with hazy atmosphere, occurring in the
late autumn in the Northern United States. Also transf. in other countries.
The name is generally attributed to the fact that the region in which the
meteorological conditions in question were originally noticed was still
occupied by the Indians. But other more specific explanations have been
essayed. In its origin it appears to have had nothing to do with the
glowing autumnal tints of the foliage, with which it is sometimes
associated. The actual time of its occurrence and the character of the
weather appear also to vary for different regions: see the quots.)
FIRST USAGE:
1778 'J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur' Sk. 18th-Cent. Amer. (1925) 41 It [sc=
.
snow] is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called
the Indian Summer.
Indian-summerish a. nonce-wd.
1852 Thoreau Autumn (1894) 79 It is a warm, Indian-summerish afternoon.
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back to ordinary summer:
c transf.
1 Summer weather
2 a season RESEMBLING summer
3 summery or warm weather.
d figurative use:
1535 Nisbet N.T., Prol. Rom. Wks. (S.T.S.) III. 334 Quhair the spret is,
thair is alwayis symmer, ande thair is allwayis gude fructes.
USAGE 2
In pl. with numeral, put for `year'. Now only poet. or in speaking of a
young person's age.
USAGE 3 = summer-herring.
1682 J. Collins Salt & Fish. 106 Of Herrings. Summers are such as the Dutch
Chasers or Divers catch from June to the 15th of July.
(f) with descriptive designations.
1611 Beaum. & Fl. King & No K. v. i, Lyg. I know you dare lie. Bes. With
none but Summer Whores.., my means and manners never could attempt above a
hedge or haycock.
c
Applied to crops, etc. that ripen in summer, as summer fruit, more
particularly to such as ripen in the summer of the year in which they are
sown, as summer barley, corn, grain, rye, seed, vetch, wheat; also spec. in
popular names of early-ripening apples and pears, as summer apple,
pearmain, poppering.
d
Having a sunny or southerly aspect; so summer-east, -west = south-east,
-west.
e fig.
with reference to prosperous, pleasant, or genial conditions; said esp. of
friendship that lasts only in times of prosperity, = fair-weather
f U.S.
Designating tourists or those who visit a place for a summer holiday. Cf.
summer boarder.
6
a
Special combs.: summer-ale, etc.
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summer
Ital. somaro
L. saumarius.
A pack-horse.
A main beam in a structure.
A horizontal bearing beam in a building; spec. the main beam supporting the
girders or joists of a floor (or occas. the rafters of a roof). (When on
the face of a building it is properly called breast-summer.)
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summer
One who sums or adds; esp. in summer-up, one who or that which sums up;
colloq. or dial. one who does sums, an arithmetician.
2 Electronics. A circuit or device that produces an output dependent on the
sum of two or more inputs or of multiples of them.
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