Hello October and a new season!  Have you ever wondered whether you should use the word “fall” or “autumn” when referring to this time of year?  Well, both terms are correct!  Although seemingly trivial, whether to use the seasonal name “fall” or “autumn” is really an interesting intersection of language, culture, and history.  Read on to find out why…

The word autumn derives from the Latin term autumnus.  It’s use in England and dates back to the early 1300s and is found in works by both Chaucer and Shakespeare. By the 1600s, the more descriptive expression “fall of the leaf” appeared, created, some say, by poets who also used the label “spring of the leaf” to name the spring season.  Later, these names were shortened to just fall and spring.

So which name should one use?  Well, it all depends on where you live.  In the United States and Canada, the term “fall” is used much more frequently whereas “autumn” is the preferred term in the UK and other English-speaking countries outside of North America. 

You can understand this better by taking a snapshot of when English colonists began migrating to North America.  Among the ideas, plants, animals, guns, iron tools, and weapons; Christianity and Roman law; sugarcane and wheat; horses and cattle brought over to America, the settlers also brought their language and current jargon.  As the colonists developed their independence their language morphed, creating two distinct dialects – British English and American English. For some time, North Americans used both terms interchangeably. It wasn’t until the late-1800’s, when “fall” became the preferred choice to describe the season.

While no one knows exactly why North Americans chose “fall” over “autumn,” (maybe because it so aptly described our beautiful New England Octobers!), with time the colonists made many word choices to separate the two dialects.  Today, the differences are many; jumper/sweater, bin/garbage can, pavement/sidewalk, boot/trunk…so many, in fact, the great English writer,   George Bernard Shaw humorously noted that the United States and the United Kingdom are “two countries divided by a common language”

So, hooray for FALL and all that comes with it including pumpkins, Halloween, pretty leaves… and for our UK brothers and sisters, cozy jumpers, and football!  See you in the next blog!

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Deb Fries works with the Julianna Rae team to offer the best shopping experience for quality silk and cotton sleepwear while also writing for the blog at  Juliannarae.com.