▪ I. summering, vbl. n.1
(ˈsʌmərɪŋ)
[f. summer v.1 or n.1 + -ing1.]
1. a. The pasturing of cattle in summer. † Also attrib., as summering ground, summering place, summering plain.
| 1477 Churchw. Acc. Tintinhull (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 193 For wynteryng and summering of the chyrche cowe, iijs. 1580 Records of Elgin (New Spald. Club) I. 156 Fyve s. for the symmering of tua ky to him in symmer last wes. 1595 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) 254, I will that my wiffe be fre to all my sommering places. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 605 The Romans had a speciall regard to chuse some places for the summering of their sheepe, and some place for their wintering. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 45 Aladin..assigned him this village to winter in, and the mountaines adioyning for the sommering of his cattell. 1664 in Northumb. Gloss. s.v. Summering, All my summering grounds in the parish of Symonburne. 1688 W. Scot Hist. Name Scot (repr. 1776) 33 All our south-parts was wood and forrest, Except here and there a summering plain. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 197 Summering on grass, being the customary payment for a cow, L. 3 10 0. 1888 Doughty Trav. Arabia Deserta I. 24 When nearly all the villagers lie encamped..for the summering of their cattle. |
b. Spending the summer, summer residence. † Also attrib., as summering-house, summering place. Now U.S.
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Confectus, When they had done restinge in their summering places. 1675 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.) 238 The G. Sr. nourishes severall [English mastiffs], and hath here hard by our house a sommering-house for them. 1817–18 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 272 After a long summering upon wild flesh. 1856 Miss Warner Hills Shatemuc x, The young ladies' summering in the country had begun with good promise. 1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 331/2 Altoona..is a summering place. 1892 Kipling in Times (weekly ed.) 25 Nov. 13/2 You in England have no idea of what Summering means in the States. |
c. The summer treatment of hunters.
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports ii. iii. ii. §2. 404/2 In the middle of September the training for the hunting season begins, and at that time the summering may be considered at an end. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 194/1 It will probably be nearly a month after the last hunting day before the summering treatment is adopted. |
† 2. A summer excursion, festivity, or revelling.
| 1606 Jas. VI in Reg. Privy Council Scot. VII. 489 Thair forbearing ony suche lyke sommering heirefter. 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlem. 166 Both Southward in their Wakes, and Northward in their Summerings, the very same Recreations are to this day continued. 1631 ― Whimzies, Ruffian 82 His soveraignty is showne highest at May-games, wakes, summerings, and rush-bearings. 1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves Gloss. (E.D.S.), Summering, a rush-bearing. |
3. dial. a. pl. Summer apples or pears.
| 1847 Halliwell, Summerings,..very early apples and pears. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss. |
b. Summer pasture or feed.
| 1894 Morning Post 3 Feb. 2/1 If the meadow land which belonged to the farm was cut off, leaving only the summering. 1894 Northumb. Gloss. s.v., Summerings, Sommerings, pastures on the moors; so-called from their being occupied only in the summer months. |
c. pl. Cattle of one year old.
Cf. ON. sumrungr.
| 1828 Farm. Jrnl. 9 June (E.D.D.). 1847 in Halliwell. |
▪ II. summering, vbl. n.2 Archit.
(ˈsʌmərɪŋ)
Also 8 som(m)ering.
[app. f. summer n.2 + -ing1.]
a. collect. The beds of the stones or bricks of an arch considered with reference to their direction. b. The radial direction of the joints of an arch. c. The degree of curvature of an arch.
The term perhaps originally indicated the support given by the impost from which the arch springs (cf. F. sommier) and which by its mould determines the curve of the arch, but there is no evidence for a sense (given in some recent Dicts.) ‘the first mass of masonry laid upon a pier, column, etc. when it begins an arched construction’.
| 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 9 The Centre for the Skew-back or Sommering to point to... By Sommering, is to be understood the level Joints betwixt the Courses of Bricks in the Arch. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 279 According to the breadth of the Piers between the Windows, so ought the Skew-back or Sommering of the Arch to be. 1751 Halfpenny New Des. Chinese Bridges ii. 8 The middle Pieces are taper, according to the somering of the Arch. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 329 In arching, the beds are, by some, called summerings. Ibid. 593 Sommering, the continuation of the joints of arches towards a centre. |
| attrib. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 275 Divide the upper Hanse from the centre O, making a right Angle from each sommering Line to the Ellipsis.., this will be the Sommering Mould for the Hanse;..then make another Sommering Mould to fit between two of these Lines. 1725 W. Halfpenny Sound Building 55 Cut the Arch on the End of the Brick, as also the Summering Joint. |