▪ I. summer, n.1
(ˈsʌmə(r))
Forms: 1 sumor, (-ur), 1–4 sumer, 3–6 somer, 4–5 somere, Sc. -yr(e, 4–6 Sc. somir, 4–7 sommer, (3 Orm. sumerr, 4 Kent. zomer, 5 somare, -or, sommyr, sommure, Sc. swmyr, 6 sommar), 6– summer. β. Sc. 6 symmer, 8–9 simmer.
[OE. sumor masc. = OFris. sumur, -er (Fris. sommer, simmer), MLG. sommer, MDu. somer (Du. zomer), OHG. sumar (MHG. sumer, G. sommer), ON. sumar neut. (Sw. sommar, Da. sommer).
Generally recognized cognates outside Germanic are Arm. amarn summer, Skr. samā half-year, year, Zend hama in summer, OIr. sam, W. haf summer.]
1. a. 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.); in popular use comprising in the northern hemisphere the period from mid-May to mid-August; also often, esp. as in (c) below, in contradistinction to winter, the warmer half of the year (cf. midsummer). (Often with initial capital.)
(a) In general use. (Also personified.) Often in in summer (OE. on sumera, ME. o, a or in sumere).
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxiii. 17 Aestatem & ver, sumur & lenten. c 888 ælfred Boeth. iv. §1 Þu þe þam winterdaᵹum selest scorte tida & þæs sumeres dahum langran. Ibid. xxi. §1 On sumera hit biþ wearm, and on wintra ceald. a 1000 Gnomic Verses 7 in Grein I. 338 Winter byð cealdost,..sumor sunwliteᵹost. c 1200 Ormin 11254 O sumerr, & onn herrfessttid, O winnterr, & o lenntenn. a 1225 Ancr. R. 20 Euerich on sigge..vhtsong bi nihte ine winter, ine sumer iþe dawunge. 12.. Song on Passion 1 in O.E. Misc., Somer is comen and winter gon. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Simon & Jude) 454 In þat houre quhen sik clernes suld be as in-to somyre wes. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 38 In Wynter doth he noght for cold, In Somer mai he noght for hete. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 66 In þe seson of somere..Heo greiþed hire til hire gardin. 1528 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 135/2, I had leuer shyuer & shake for cold in y⊇ middes of somer, than be burned in the middes of winter. 1594 Kyd Cornelia ii. 89 T' haue made thy name be farre more fam'd and feard Then Summers thunder to the silly Heard. a 1599 Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 29 Then came the iolly Sommer..And on his head a girlond well beseene He wore. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xciv, The sommers flowre is to the sommer sweet. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 246 Where the Attic Bird Trills her thick-warbl'd notes the summer long. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 107 The Seasons of the Year might generally be divided, not into Summer and Winter, as in Europe; but into the Rainy Seasons, and the Dry Seasons. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 192 It's true, they need na starve or sweat, Thro' Winter's cauld, or Summer's heat. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1890) 61/1 When Summer brings the lily and the rose. |
| β 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxix. 49 Cum, lustie symmer! with thy flouris. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 46 The plesant plane-trie will the leavs vnfauld With fairest schaddow to save the sone in symmer. 1806 Tannahill Braes o Gleniffer iii. Poems (1900) 152 Oh, gin I saw my bonnie Scots callan, The dark days o winter war simmer to me! |
(
b) In particularized use,
esp. with qualification or contextually, denoting this season in a certain year.
| c 900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 897 Þy ilcan sumera forwearð nolæs þonne .xx. scipa mid monnum. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7123 On vs þey wyle þis somer haste. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 242 In a somer ich seyh hym,..as ich sat in my porche. c 1450 Brut ii. 304 In þe xxvij. ȝere of his regne was þe grete derþe of vitailes, þe wiche was clepid þe dere somer. 1530 Palsgr. 814/1 This sommer that commeth. 1594 Kyd Cornelia Ded., I will assure your Ladiship my next Sommers better trauell with the Tragedy of Portia. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. Ep. Ded., When it pleased your Honour in sommer was two yeeres to haue some conference with me. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 208 The Springs and Summers which we see. 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 303 Our [Scotch] summers are said to consist of 3 hot days and a thunder-storm. 1885 W. W. Story Fiammetta 19 You will find me there all summer. 1906 R. Bayne Butler's Anal. Introd. p. xi, He came to England in the summer of 1720. |
(
c) Phr.
summer and winter,
winter and summer,
OE.,
ME. (
advb. gen.)
sumeres and wintres, all the year round.
| a 1000 Phœnix 37 (Gr.) Wintres & sumeres wudu bið ᵹelice bledum ᵹehongen. c 1205 Lay. 2861 Enne blase of fure, þe neuer ne aþeostrede wintres ne sumeres. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxii. (Laurence) 3 A fare tre callit lawrane, þat wyntyre & somir ay is grene. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 189 That ged eyls and fyscis..ma be conseruyt..bath swmyr and wyntir. 1547 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 265 My suster..to have foure kie founde wynter and sommer. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxi, A bit bonny drapping well that popples that self-same gate simmer and winter. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xliii. (ed. 3) 378 Winter and summer, steamboats leave Westminster for Greenwich and Woolwich half-hourly. |
b. Applied, with qualification, to a period of fine dry weather in late autumn; see All-Hallows 7,
Indian summer,
Martin3 3 c;
St. Luke's (little) summer,
little summer of St. Luke, such a period occurring about
St. Luke's Day, 18 Oct. (
Cf. Ger. altweibersommer.)
| 1828 T. Forster Circle Seasons 293 Fair, warm, and dry weather, often occurs about this time, and is called St. Luke's Little Summer. 1855 N. & Q. 1st Ser. XII. 366/1 A few fine days about this time, called St. Luke's little summer; which the good folks of Hants and Dorset always expect about the 18th of this month. 1881 G. Milner Country Pleas. xli. 232 As autumn proceeds, we watch anxiously for that season of respite which..is known..as the Little Summer of St. Luke. |
c. transf. Summer weather; a season resembling summer; summery or warm weather.
| a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 193 Þer bloweð inne blisse blostmen... Þer ne mei non ualuwen, uor þer is eche sumer. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 355 His gowne so shorte that it ne couer myghte His rumpe, he wente so all for somer lyghte. 1634 Milton Comus 988 There eternal Summer dwels. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 24 June 1693, A very wet hay harvest, and little Summer as yet. 1855 Tennyson Daisy 92 Lands of summer across the sea. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 140 Here is an everlasting summer of 70° to 80°. |
d. In
fig. and allusive use.
| c 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. 1591 Greene Farew. Folly Wks. (Grosart) IX. 323 Beeing as intemperate in the frostie winter of their age, as we in the glowing summer of our youth. 1679 Dryden & Lee Œdipus iv. i, She, tho' in full-blown flow'r of glorious beauty, Grow's cold, ev'n in the Summer of her Age. 1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 75 The summer of her smile. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 398 For now the wine made summer in his veins. 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. iii. 72 This sudden change from winter to summer. |
2. In
pl. with numeral, put for ‘year’. Now only
poet. or in speaking of a young person's age.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1686 Þus he countes hym a kow, þat was a kyng ryche, Quyle seuen syþez were ouer-seyed someres I trawe. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 133 Fiue Sommers haue I spent in farthest Greece. 1631 Milton Ep. March. Winch. 7 Summers three times eight save one She had told. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia viii. v, Fifteen summers had she bloomed. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. ii. 157 Doge Dandolo survived to ninety summers. 1842 Tennyson Godiva 11 The woman of a thousand summers back, Godiva. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 18 July 8/2 A good-looking young lady of apparently twenty summers. |
3. = summer-herring (see 6 b). ?
Obs.| 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. |
4. attrib. passing into adj. a. = Of or pertaining to summer, characteristic of summer, summer-like, summery; suitable or appropriate to, used or occupied in, summer; existing, appearing, active, performed, or produced in summer.
As the number of these
attrib. uses is unlimited, in most cases only the earliest and most important examples are given here.
(
a) of natural phenomena, animals, plants, etc. (
Cf. OE. sumorhǽte summer-heat.)
| a 1300 Siriz 294 Ȝus, bi the somer blome, Hethen nulli ben bi-nomen. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 35 Now be the lusti somer floures. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 707 Hec polemita, a somerboyde [see boud]. c 1450 tr. Giraldus Cambrensis' Hist. Irel. (1896) 28 Storkes & swalewes, & oþer somer foules. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xi. 26 Thy lustye bewte and thy ȝouth Sall feid as dois the somer flouris. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 293 Blow like sweet Roses, in this summer aire. Ibid. 408 These summer flies, Haue blowne me full of maggot ostentation. 1590 ― Mids. N. ii. i. 110 An odorous Chaplet of sweet Sommer buds. 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. ii. i, Tears, and vows, and words, Moves her no more than summer-winds a rock. 1634 Milton Comus 928 Summer drouth, or singed air Never scorch thy tresses fair. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. Pref. 26 The Papacy would melt away like a bank of snow in the summer-sun. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. xviii. 467/1 These are the true shapes both of the Summer Butter⁓fly, and the Wood-louse. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Silk, The Warmth of the Summer Weather. 1748 Gray Alliance 101 Nile redundant o'er his Summer-bed. 1754 ― Poesy 83 Far from the sun and summer-gale. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 705 But Conversation..Should flow, like waters after summer show'rs. 1790 ― J. Thornton 38 The summer rill Refreshes, where it winds, the faded green. 1817 Shelley Marianne's Dream 25 The sky was blue as the summer sea. 1820 ― Witch Atl. xl, The busy dreams, as thick as summer flies. 1820 Keats Isabella ix, Lady! thou leadest me to summer clime. 1834 Mrs. Hemans Happy Hour 5 Early-blighted leaves, which o'er their way Dark summer-storms had heaped. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 566 The greater part of the summer shoots ought to be stopt. 1848 Dickens Dombey iii, The summer sun was never on the street. 1850 Miss Pratt Comm. Things of Sea-side iii. 171 The insects of our summer pools. 1879 F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. i, Without cap or bonnet, as if in fair summer-weather trim. |
(
b) of clothing, food, etc.
| 1363–4 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 566 In uno panno..pro somersercortes [sic] pro armigeris Prioris. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 119 He sente hem forth seluerles in a somer garnement. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 4343 Make we na salues for na sares ne na somir-bathis. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab. xi. (Fox & Wolf) xviii, It is somer cheis, baith fresche and fair. 1481 Cely Papers (Camden) 71, j pack lyeth upprest and sum of that packe ys somer felles. 1530 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 280 Ane pair symmir buttis to the Kingis grace. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xvi. 17 Sommer cloathing of the women of Malta. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 916 When..Maidens bleach their summer smockes. c 1620 Hatton Corr. (Camden) 3 At my returne I will make you a sommer sute. 1693 Dryden Juvenal i. 40 Charg'd with light Summer-rings his fingers sweat. 1697 ― Virg. Georg. iii. 665 A Snake..in his Summer Liv'ry rouls along. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 367 It lies extremely convenient for my summer-pasture. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 63/2 The melasses may..compose the basis of a pleasant summer beer. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 325 The summer cheese, which is the best, is made of the evening milk. 1834 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XXII. 366/1 Such is its Summer coat, and..we distinguish it by the name Stoat. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. Fleet I. 33 Sir Robert is calling every day for a summer sallet to cool his blood. |
(
c) of places or buildings. (
Cf. OE. sumerselde,
summer-house.)
| 1382 Wyclif Judg. iii. 20 Forsothe he sat in the somer sowpynge place [Vulg. in æstivo cœnaculo] alone. 1596 Edw. III, ii. i. 61 Then in the sommer arber sit by me. 1611 Bible Judg. iii. 24 Surely he couereth his feet in his Summer chamber. 1611 ― Dan. ii. 35 [They] became like the chaffe of the summer threshing floores. 1612 Webster White Devil i. ii, Tis iust like a summer bird-cage in a garden. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4447/1 The Heat of the Weather obliges both sides to retire..into their Summer Quarters. 1783 Cowper Faithf. Friend 1 The green-house is my summer seat. 1837 Lockhart Scott I. ix. 307 To establish his summer residence in Lanarkshire. 1847 Tennyson Princ. i. 146 A certain summer-palace which I have. |
(
d) of times and seasons. (See also
summer-day, -tide, -time.)
| c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 170 Sho wolde gar hur maydyns gader þe dew on sommer mornyngis. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. I. 228 Wpoun ane summar morning..ane of the Inglishe scheipis persaueit tua schipis command wnder saill. 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie Ep. Ded. (Arb.) 15 A sleight somewhat compyled for recreation, in the intermyssions of my daylie businesse, (euen thys Summer Eueninges). 1592 Arden of Feversham i. i. 58 Sommer nights are short, and yet you ryse ere day. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. 159 Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather. 1626 Bacon Sylva §606, I left once, by chance, a Citron cut, in a close Roome, for three Summer-Moneths. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 130 Such sights as youthfull Poets dream On Summer eeves by haunted stream. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 55 The dazzling roofs,..Resplendent as the blaze of summer noon. 1785 Burns Holy Fair 1 Upon a simmer Sunday morn. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlv, All the tints of a summer-evening sky. 1821 Shelley Hellas 13 Sweet as a summer night without a breath. 1833 Tennyson Pal. Art 62 A gaudy summer-morn. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 621 Excursions are made during the summer months. |
(
e) of conditions, qualities, or actions.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iii. 13 Their lips were foure red Roses on a stalke, And in their Summer Beauty kist each other. 1617 Wither Abuses ii. iv. 275 Their ancient drunken-summer-reuelings Are out of date. 1636 H. Burton Div. Trag. 22 One in Glocestershire being very forward to advance a solemne sommer-meeting [for sports]. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew i, After so many Sommer vagaries. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth i. ix. 123 This reason is a Summer-reason, and would pass very ill in Winter. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 194 Towards the end of May, you must give your Ground the Summer-Digging. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 644 A gay insect in his summer shine..spreads his mealy wings. 1787 Burns Petit. Bruar Water i, Saucy Phœbus' scorching beams, In flaming summer-pride. 1798 J. Woodforde Diary 11 June (1931) V. 121 Master Neville Custance called on us..being very lately come home from School for the Summer Vacation. 1813 Scott Rokeby i. i, The Moon is in her summer glow. 1819 Keats Indolence ii, The blissful cloud of summer-indolence Benumb'd my eyes. 1826 Lamb Pop. Fallacies xii, [The talk] is not of toys, of nursery books, of summer holidays. 1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 768/2 The summer-sleep of hibernating animals. 1854 Poultry Chron. I. 34/2 Birds that have taken prizes at London Summer Meeting. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 255 During this interval of rest..is the best time for summer trimming. 1875 Trollope Prime Minister (1876) I. xv. 237 The lawyer's regular summer vacation had not yet commenced. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion iii. i, My bed of long delight and summershine. 1942 O. Nash Good Intentions 179 A summer cold Is to have and to hold. 1970 J. Creasey Part for Policeman vi. 53 What's the matter with him? Summer 'flu? 1975 Times 19 Apr. 9/2 Kathy had been in bed with a so-called summer cold..sniffling and sneezing. 1980 P. Harcourt Tomorrow's Treason i. i. 23 What with leave and summer flu, we're already short of staff. 1982 R. Timperley Face in Leaves i. 11 The long summer vacation was stretching out ahead of me. |
(
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. 1645 G. Daniel Scattered Fancies xxiii. iv, You are but weake, Meere summer Chanters. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 45/1 Three if not four species are common summer immigrants to some part or other of the United States. |
(
g) in superlative
summerest (
rare or
nonce uses).
| 1772 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 3 Aug., The summerest summer that I have known these hundred years. 1873 H. James Let. 24 Mar. (1974) I. 355, I walk abroad in my summerest clothes and am warm. 1979 Times of India 17 Aug. 3/4 A wag remarks that half the city's population migrates to cooler climes during the ‘summerest’ month of May. |
b. The possessive
summer's is similarly used, but now chiefly with
morning,
evening, and
night. (See also
summer's day,
summer's tide.)
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 821 As the somerys sonne bryghte. 14.. Sir Beues 4138 (Pynson) M iv, And so lasted that cruel fyght, Al that longe somers nyght. 1513 Douglas æneis x. vii. 109 In the symmeris drouth, Quhen wyndis risis of the north or south. 1592 Soliman & Pers. i. v. 64 The humming of a gnat in Summers night. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 210 Ditties highly penn'd, Sung by a faire Queene in a Summers Bowre. 1601 ― Jul. C. iii. ii. 176 'Twas on a Summer's Euening. 1613 Jackson Creed i. xxiii. 136 Diseases, neuer perceiued in their Summers growth, vntill they be ripe of death in the Autumne. 1654 Warren Unbelievers 22 The Sodomites..shall have a Summers parlour in hell over that soule. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 43 The..sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose. Ibid. ix. 447 As one..Forth issuing on a Summers Morn. 1721 Ramsay Keitha 45 Her presence, like a simmer's morning ray. 1780–2 Cowper Cricket 21 Their's is but a summer's song. 1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun i. i, Ae Simmer's morning. 1855 Miller Elem. Chem., Chem. Phys. iii. §4. 112 If the right rhombic crystals [of sulphate of nickel] be placed in the summer's sun for a few days they become opaque. |
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,
summer corn,
summer grain,
summer rye,
summer seed,
summer vetch,
summer wheat; also
spec. in popular names of early-ripening apples and pears, as
summer apple,
summer pearmain,
summer poppering, etc. (
cf. also 6 b).
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxv. (Bodl. MS.) Winter seede is sone isowe and somer sede is late isowe. 1535 Coverdale Amos viii. 1 Beholde, there was a maunde with sommer frute. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 26 Sommer seedes, whiche are sowed before the risyng of the seuen starres, and in the Spring, as Beanes. Ibid., Sommer Barley..and suche other, are sowed in the Spring time. Ibid. 27 b, Rye..is sowed..in Februarie, and called Sommer Wheate. Ibid. 34 Pease..are sowed among Sommer Corne. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. i. 453 A sommer wheate or grayne. Ibid., Men sow their winter corne in September, or October, & the sommer corne in March, but they are ripe altogither in July. 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 214 The Denny-pear, Prussia-pear, Summer-Poppering..are all very good table-fruit. 1681 Grew Musæum ii. iii. iii. 235 Summer Wheat of New England. a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 174, I spoke..of the husbandry of sowing goar or summer-vetches. 1722 Phil. Trans. XXXII. 231 The Apple, that produces the Molosses, is a Summer-Sweeting. 1764 Ann. Reg. ii. 2 Several trials of summer-corn..in which both barley and oats have succeeded. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 435 He was..obliged to wait till Mr. Rocque's summer-seed was reaped. 1795 J. Jay Let. 12 Dec. in Columbia Lit. Columns (1970) XIX. iii. 43 Ten are Summer Pippins, a very large fair Yellow apple. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 244 The real spring or summer wheat, has been of late introduced in various districts in Scotland. 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 190/1 Summer golden pippin. Summer Thorle. 1854 Mayne Expos. Lex. 352/1 Summer-fruits; as cherries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. 1870 J. W. McClung Minnesota xi. 154 Among the varieties [of apples]..are..Summer Pairmain, [etc.]. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel ii. 145 They ate sweet summerapples. |
† d. = Having a sunny or southerly aspect; so
summer-east,
summer-west = south-east, -west.
Obs.| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 491 Thyn oilcelar sette on the somer side. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 328 Towarde the sommer East, it confineth with the Tartars. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. v. 135 They do call lower windes those..which blowe from the South to the summer-weast. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 585 A kind of Solar stove, made in a Summer-wall. |
e. fig. with reference to prosperous, pleasant, or genial conditions; said
esp. of friendship that lasts only in times of prosperity,
= fair-weather 2.
| 1592 Nashe Strange Newes Wks. 1904 I. 291 His low-flighted affection (fortunes summer folower). 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. iv. 12 If't be Summer Newes Smile too't before. 1624 Quarles Job Militant, Digestion iv, If Winter fortunes nip thy Summer Friends,..despaire not, but be wise. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iii. i, Summer-friendship, Whose flattering leaves, that shadowed us in our Prosperity..drop off In the Autumn of adversity! 1727–46 Thomson Summer 347 Luxurious Men, unheeding, pass An idle summer-life in fortune's shine. c 1800 R. Cumberland John De Lancaster (1809) III. 93 We are but summer soldiers. 1805 Ann. Rev. III. 584 He was in the Fleet..deserted by his three Summer friends. 1818 Ibid. XIX. 42 He was the frequent visitor of Clarendon, when that admirable man was abandoned by the swarm of summer followers. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 164 Summer isles of Eden. |
f. U.S. Designating tourists or those who visit a place for a summer holiday.
Cf. summer boarder, sense 6 a below.
| 1886 Leslie's Monthly Feb. 203/1 Old Sampson don't like the Summer gentry. 1889 W. D. Howells Hazard of New Fortunes I. 135 She frankly gave up her house to the summer-folks (as they call them in the country). 1892 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. XII. 139 To these more prominent places may be added a multitude of..attractive homes to the summer guest. 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum 286 Our friend had met quite a number of the ‘summer people’. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Mar. 10/2 New England has been declining. Her rural areas are given over to a sort of subsistence farming or to the entertainment of ‘summer people’. 1971 H. T. Walden Anchorage Northeast 19 So few ‘summer people’ are here that the term has little or no usage. 1977 New Yorker 10 Oct. 112/3 He is the native by the side of the road who, having been called stupid by the summer person exasperated at his inability to provide directions to Portland, says, ‘Mebbee, but at least I ain't lost.’ 1980 J. Coates Sentimental Education 124 She belonged to the town—she was not one of the summer people. |
5. Comb.: objective, as
summer-breathing,
summer loving ppl. adjs.; indirect objective,
summer-going adj.; instrumental, as
summer-blanched,
summer-dried,
summer-painted,
summer-shrunk,
summer-soothed,
summer-stricken,
summer-tranced,
pples. and
ppl. adjs.; similative, as
summer-happy,
summer-kind,
summer-merry,
summer-seeming,
summer-sweet adjs.; ‘in or during summer’, as
summer-basking,
summer-born,
summer-brewed,
summer-felled,
summer-flowering,
summer-green,
summer-idle,
summer-leaping,
† summer-lived,
summer-made,
summer-opened,
summer-ripening,
summer-running,
summer-shaded,
summer-staying,
summer-still,
summer-swelling,
summer-threshed,
summer white,
pples. and
ppl. adjs.;
summer-feed,
summer-graze,
summer-till,
summer-yard vbs.;
summer-curer.
| 1931 R. Graves Poems 1926–30 69 You are no more than weather, The year's unsteadfastness To which, now *summer-basking,..The mind pays no honour. |
| 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 152 One [sc. hut] that, *summer-blanch'd, Was parcel-bearded with the traveller's-joy. |
| 1975 Language for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xviii. 267 Many children..are likely to continue to need special help in the junior school, particularly those *summer-born children who may have had only two years of early schooling. |
| 1806 M. A. Shee Rhymes on Art 68 In calmer seas, and *summer-breathing gales. |
| 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 32 Imperfect fermentation..causes acidity and other faults in *summer-brewed beers. |
| 1881 Chicago Times 14 May, It is to the interest now of the leading *summer-curers [sc. of pork] to get values down. |
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xvi, A *summer-dried fountain. |
| 1799 A. Young Agric. Linc. 190, 13 acres of marsh at Grimsby, that *summer-feeds 14 bullocks. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., To skeer, to mow lightly over, applied to pastures, which have been summer fed. |
| 1804 Phil. Trans. XCV. 92 Proper marks were put to distinguish the winter-felled from the *summer-felled poles. |
| 1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly i, In one corner stood a huge *summer-flowering magnolia. 1900 Daily News 5 May 4/5 Summer-flowering chrysanthemums. |
| 1954 J. Betjeman Few Late Chrysanthemums 43 Oh sun upon the *summer-going by-pass Where ev'rything is speeding to the sea. |
| 1799 A. Young Agric. Linc. 354 He..in April *summer-grazed them, taking the wool. |
| 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel 137 There was a blue haze at the end of every street of brick houses and dark *summergreen trees. |
| 1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 104 And we're going to be *summer-happy And summer-kind. |
| 1955 E. Bowen World of Love iv. 67 The *summer-idle water dawdled in shallows. |
| 1917 *Summer-kind [see summer-happy above]. |
| 1596 Edw. III, ii. i. 107 To musicke euery *sommer leaping swaine Compares his sunburnt louer when shee speakes. |
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. 1904 II. 275 *Summer liude grashoppers gaping after deaw. |
| 1875 Zoologist Ser. ii. X. 4693 They [sc. starlings] fly into the air with swallows, &c., and catch insects similar to that *summer-loving tribe. |
| 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 206 This..increases the quantity of your *summer-made manure. |
| 1957 E. Blunden Poems of Many Years 279 By the arched grey bridge of *summer-merry streams. |
| 1887 J. R. Lowell in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 250 And listen while Old Hundred pours Forth through *summer-opened doors. |
| 1937 E. Muir Coll. Poems (1960) 80 The lint-white stubble plain From which the *summer-painted birds have flown A year's life on. |
| 1840 J. Buel Farmer's Companion 44 They are cropped with small grains or *summer-ripening crops. |
| 1972 Trout & Salmon Feb. 10/2 Clearly the nets are taking an excessive proportion of *summer-running salmon. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 86 This Auarice..growes with more pernicious roote Then *Summer-seeming Lust. |
| 1850 J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 340/1 Down the *summer-shaded street A wasted female figure..Came rushing. |
| 1825 Scott Betrothed ii, A maiden smiles at the *summer-shrunk brook while she crosses it. |
| 1883 R. Bridges Prometheus the Firegiver 37 Piloting over the wind-dappled blue Of the *summer-soothed Aegean. |
| 1868 Lynch Rivulet clx. iii, Can..The *summer-staying birds forget The winter's force to shun? |
| 1925 A. Huxley Sel. Poems 38, I am a pool of waters, *summer-still. |
| 1827 Scott Highl. Widow v, You do but resemble the *summer-stricken stream, which is turned aside by the rushes. |
| 1945 W. de la Mare Burning-Glass 42 *Summer-sweet as that wild rose. |
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 162 Lest the base earth Should..Disdaine to roote the *Sommer-swelling flowre. |
| 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 346 It enables the farmer to make his *summer-threshed straw into dung. |
| 1847 Halliwell s.v., ‘That field was *summer-tilled last year’, i.e. lay fallow. |
| 1881 O. Wilde Poems 66 We too might waste the *summer-trancèd day. |
| 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 9 The flagged, clean pavement *summer-white. |
| 1840 J. Buel Farmer's Comp. 198 Feeding these crops with the long manure of the yards and stables, instead of *summer-yarding it. |
6. a. Special combs.:
† summer-ale, (
a) ale brewed in summer, new or heady ale; (
b) a summer festival (see
ale 3);
summer-barm v. intr., to ferment in warm weather;
† summer-blink, a short spell of sunshine in dull weather;
summer boarder U.S., one who lives at a boarding-house in the country in summer; hence
summer-board v. trans., to take (someone) as a summer boarder;
summer-boarding;
† summer-broach, a maypole decked;
summer camp orig. and chiefly
U.S., a camp providing recreational and sporting facilities during the summer holiday period,
usu. for children;
summer catarrh = hay-fever;
summer cholera = cholera 2;
summer-colt (usually
pl.)
local, the undulating appearance of the air near the ground on a hot day; see also
quot. 1825;
summer complaint U.S., summer diarrhœa of children; also, infantile cholera and dysentery;
summer cottage N. Amer., a cottage,
usu. at a holiday resort or in the country, occupied during the summer; hence
summer cottager, one who occupies a summer cottage;
summer country N.Z. (see
quot. 1898);
summer diarrhœa = summer cholera;
summer-dream, a pleasant or happy dream;
summer-eat v. trans. dial., to use as summer pasture;
summer eggs = summer ova (Cassell, 1887);
summer fever, hay-fever;
summer-field,
† (
a) rendering L.
æstiva area = summer floor; (
b) a field with the summer crop; (
c)
dial. a summer-fallow;
† summer floor [
floor n.1 6], a thrashing-floor;
summer-fold (now
dial.), a freckle;
summer-gauze,
-goose local, gossamer;
† summer hall, (
a) rendering L.
æstiva area = summer floor; (
b)
= summer-house 2, 2 b;
summer-heat [
OE. sumorhǽte], the heat of summer;
spec. an arbitrary maximum summer temperature commonly marked on thermometers;
summer kitchen N. Amer., an extra kitchen, adjoining a house or separate from it, used for cooking in hot weather;
† summer lady, the queen of the ‘summer-game’;
summerlay n. dial., land lying fallow in summer; in East Anglia, a turnip fallow;
summerlay v. trans. dial., to lay fallow;
† summer lea-land = summer-fallow;
summer-lease dial. (see
quots.);
summer-leding pseudo-arch. [
f. OE. sumorlida summer expedition (
O.E. Chron. an. 871)], see
quot.;
summer lightning, sheet lightning without audible thunder, often seen in hot weather; also allusively and
attrib.;
summer-long adv. and a., (lasting) throughout the summer;
† summer-lord, a youth chosen as president of the ‘summer-game’;
cf. May-lord;
summer master Canad. Hist., a person in charge of a trading post for the summer only;
summer mastitis, a severe inflammation of the udder of cows
usu. associated with the bacteria
Corynebacterium pyogenes or
Peptococcus indolicus;
summer meal Sc., meal for use until harvest;
summer number, a summer issue of a periodical, with special features;
summer-ova, eggs produced by certain freshwater invertebrates in spring and summer;
summer parlour Obs. or
arch., an apartment for summer use;
† summer-pole, a pole decked with flowers erected during the ‘summer-games’;
summer pruning, the selective cutting back of branches of trees or shrubs during the growing season; hence
summer prune v.;
summer-pruned ppl. a.;
summer pudding, a pudding made of stewed fruit (
freq. raspberries and red currants) and bread;
† summer('s) queen = summer lady;
summer rash, prickly heat,
Lichen tropicus;
summer resort, a popular place of resort in the summer,
esp. a summer holiday resort; also, the act of visiting such a place;
summer resorter U.S., one who frequents summer resorts;
† summer-ripe a., fully ripe;
summer road Canad., a road suitable for use all year round, as
opp. to one used in winter only by sleighs;
† summer-room = summer-house 2;
summer sale, a sale of merchandise at reduced prices in the summer,
esp. by shops wishing to clear their seasonal stock;
summer sausage U.S., a type of dried or smoked sausage which can be made in winter and kept until summer;
summer school, a school or course of education conducted by a university, etc., in the summer,
esp. during the long vacation;
summer-sob Sc., a summer shower;
summer spot, a freckle;
† summer-stirring, summer ploughing; hence
† summer-stir v. trans.;
summer stock U.S., theatrical productions by a repertory company organized for the summer season,
esp. at holiday resorts,
freq. attrib.;
summer term, that term of an academic year or of legal sessions which occurs before the summer vacation;
summer theatre, a theatre operating only in summer;
summer-tilth dial., fallow land; the cultivation of such land;
† summer top v. trans., to cut off as in summer pruning;
† summer tree Sc. = summer-pole;
summer-weight a., of clothes: light, suitable for wear in summer; also
transf.;
summer wood = late wood s.v. late a.
1 4;
summer-work n. and v.,
-working = summer-fallow n. and v.;
summer-yellow, a variety of cotton-seed oil.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 109 The superfluities of *summer-ale, that hath wrought in his giddie braine. 1636 H. Burton Div. Trag. 21 The people..prepared for a solemne summer-ale. |
| 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2) s.v., When malt liquor begins to ferment, in warm weather, before the application of the barm, it is said to be *summer-barm'd. |
| 1637 Rutherford Let. to R. Gordon 1 Jan., Yet I am in this hot *summer-blink, with the tear in my eye. |
| 1903 K. D. Wiggin Rebecca x. 107 Mother has *summer-boarded a lot o' the school-marms. |
| 1847 H. N. Moore Fitzgerald & Hopkins 73 And stated also that there were several *summer boarders from the city present. 1879 Harper's Mag. July 164 A few quiet summer boarders took shelter for a season's rest. 1897 Appleton's Ann. Cycl. 808/1 The statistics of the summer-boarder industry are very incomplete. 1949 Sat. Even. Post 25 June 47/2 At the end of one unusually arduous summer he put an ad in a Portland paper for summer boarders. |
| 1880 Harper's Mag. Sept. 536/1 *Summer boarding here can be had for one dollar per week. |
| 1619 Pasquil's Palin. B 3, A *Sommer-broach, Ycleap'd a May-pole. |
| 1893 McClure's Mag. I. 242/2 The camp was founded by Mr. Ernest Berkeley Balch as a *summer camp for boys. 1948 Sat. Even. Post 23 Oct. 87/2 He wants to send every youngster in Lawrence to summer camp for at least two weeks. 1958 R. Liddell Morea iii. ii. 238 There [Cerigo] monasteries are, regrettably, regarded merely as summer camps for visitors. 1979 Country Life 24 May 1640/1 At the age of 14..I was packed off to a summer camp in the Welsh hills. |
| 1828 Medico-Chirurg. Trans. XIV. 437 Of the Catarrhus æstivus, or *Summer Catarrh. |
| 1862 Chamb. Encycl. III. 6/1 The milder forms of C[holera]..termed by some..British or *Summer C[holera]. |
| 1685 Phil. Trans. XV. 993 An undulating motion [which] our Countrie People call by the name of *Summer Colts in the Air. 1768 Ross Helenore 21 The summer cauts [mispr. cauls] were dancing here an' there. 1796 W. H. Marshall Rural Econ. Yorks. (ed. 2) II. 349 When the air is seen in a calm hot day to undulate,..the phænomenon is expressed by saying, ‘the summer colt rides’. 1825 Jamieson, Summer-couts,..the gnats which dance in clusters on a summer evening. |
| 1847 E. Hallowell in Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. XIV. 40 On the endemic gastro-follicular enteritis, or ‘*summer complaint’ of children. 1855 Dunglison Med. Lex., Summer complaint,..is often..made to include dysentery and cholera infantum. |
| 1840 Montreal Transcript 22 Dec. 402/2 Some owners of lots also propose putting up *summer cottages. 1902 W. D. Howells Literature & Life 49 A few houses of the past remain, but the type of the summer cottage has impressed itself upon all the later building, and the native is passing architecturally, if not personally, into abeyance. 1958 Edmonton Jrnl. 28 June 25/1 Schools and universities are closing their doors for the next few months and many Canadian households will begin the annual exodus to summer cottage or camp. |
| 1948 Chicago Tribune 20 June vii. 12/5 Many *summer cottagers will be happy to know that the same house makes a similar type of cream that repels chiggers. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 2 May 6/1 In this strange fantasyland live 300 permanent residents and another 3,200 summer cottagers. |
| 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 444/2 *Summer country, n., in New Zealand (South Island), country which can be used in summer only; mountain land in Otago and Canterbury, above a certain level. 1922 W. Perry et al. Sheep Farming in N.Z. vii. 88 The higher country..which is likely to hold snow to some depth in the winter months, is termed ‘summer country’. 1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) 14 A large proportion of the country [in the South Island]—the shady and hindermost areas—is suitable for summer grazing [of sheep] only... Such country is known as ‘summer country’. |
| 1883 F. T. Roberts Th. & Pract. Med. (ed. 5) 196 The so-called sporadic, bilious, or English cholera, or *summer diarrhœa, the symptoms of which sometimes closely resemble those of true cholera. |
| 1820 Clare Poems Rural Life (ed. 3) 60 Ye gently dimpled, curling streams, Rilling as smooth as *summer-dreams. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 July 14/2 Delighting in the summer-dream of love. |
| 1788 W. H. Marshall Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 357 *Summer-eat, to use as pasture. 1870 Zoologist Ser. ii. V. 2335 A field of summer-eaten clover, from which the sheep had a few days been removed. |
| 1884 A. Sedgwick tr. Claus's Elem. Text-bk. Zool. x. 418 The so-called *summer eggs..produce generations containing no males. 1952 J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles xii. 169 These so-called ‘summer eggs’ are laid, perhaps twenty or more at a time. |
| 1867 Pirrie Hay Asthma 25 It appears to us, that in many instances, *Summer Fever or Summer Illness, would be more applicable than Hay Fever. |
| 1382 Wyclif Dan. ii. 35 The yren,..syluer, and gold, ben..dryuen as in to a qwenchid brond of *somer feeld [1388 somer halle; Vulg. æstivæ areæ]. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. ii. 8 The wretched, bloody, and vsurping Boare, (That spoyl'd your Summer Fields, and fruitfull Vines). 1794 T. Davis Agric. Wilts 59 In the four-field husbandry, where the clover is sown the second year, and mowed the third, the field becomes in the fourth year what is called in Wiltshire ‘a summer field’. |
| 1535 Coverdale Dan. ii. 35 Like the chaffe off corne, that the wynde bloweth awaye from y⊇ *somer floores. |
| 1668 Lond. Gaz. No. 282/4 With some Freakles, or *Summer foldes in the Face. |
| 1876 Whitby Gloss., *Summer-gauze, gossamer; quantities of which, blown from the land to the sea, adheres to the rigging of ships. |
| a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, *Summer-goos, the gossamer. North. |
| 1388 *Somer halle [see summer field, 1382]. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 2922 So silis he furth..in-to a somere-hall, þare sesonde was a soper. 1429 in Munim. Magd. Coll. Oxf. (1882) 16, j somerhalle cum iij cameris ibidem annexis. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abuses M 3 b, They straw the ground rounde about, binde green boughes about it [sc. the Maypole], set vp sommer haules, bowers, and arbors. |
| 1781 Cowper Retirem. 196 Her [sc. Nature's] *summer heats, her fruits, and her perfumes. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 319 If the instrument is..intended chiefly to measure the higher degrees of heat, as from a summer-heat to that of boiling water. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gypsy vii, In my boat I lie Moor'd to the cool bank in the summer heats. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. 64 The Summer-heat may never be strong enough to melt all the ice. |
| 1874 Southern Mag. XIV. 124 There was Charley's wife..flitting about from house to *summer-kitchen. 1939 H. M. Miner St. Denis ii. 25 Airy summer kitchens, which do not retain the heat of the stove, are built onto the sides of the houses. Too exposed to be warm, these annex kitchens are evacuated in winter. |
| 1571 *Summer lady [see summer lord]. |
| 1782 W. H. Marshall Rural Econ. Norfolk (1795) II. 320 Lambs..bought up by the East Norfolk ‘graziers’ in order to pick among their *summerlies, and their stubbles, after harvest. |
| 1467 Paston Lett. II. 302 He wolde *somerlay and tylle the londe, otherwise then it is. c 1503 Ibid. III. 402 The seide x. acres londe, sowen with barly and peson, wherof v. acres were weel somerlayde to the seid barly. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 464/1 *Somyr lay-lond, novale. |
| 1863 W. Barnes Dorset Gloss., Leäze, or *Zummer leäze, a field stocked through the summer, in distinction from a mead which is mown. 1886 W. Som. Gloss., Summerleys, summerleaze, pasture fed only in summer. |
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. iii, A certain amount of ‘*summer-leding’ (i.e. piracy between seed-time and harvest). |
| 1833 Tennyson Miller's Dau. 13 Gray eyes lit up With *summer lightnings of a soul So full of summer warmth. 1856 Mrs. Gore Life's Lessons xxiv, Like summer lightning gleaming from a thunder-cloud. 1872 Daily News 7 Nov., When a pheasant is flushed you only catch a summer-lightning glimpse of him. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 330/1 What is called ‘summer lightning’ or ‘wild-fire’... In the majority of cases it is merely the effect of a distant thunder⁓storm. It is also often due to a thunderstorm in the higher strata of the atmosphere overhead. |
| 1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xxvi. 95 When the thickest gold will thrive *Summer-long in the combs of the honey-hive. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 31 On and on droned the voices, blending slumbrously with..the summer-long hum of insects. 1980 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Summer 39 In the summer, you may examine thousands of items at the summer-long Crafts Centre. |
| 1571 Grindal Injunc. ii. §19 That the Minister and churchwardens shall not suffer any Lordes of misrule, or *sommer Lordes, or Ladies..to come vnreuerently into any Church, or Chapel. 1589 Marprel., Hay any Work 3 The sommer Lord with his Maie game. |
| 1913 I. Cowie Company of Adventurers 228 Many of these journals were kept by a ‘*summer master’, who was quite often a very illiterate laborer, who could barely scrawl phonetics in the book during the real master's absence on the annual voyage to and from headquarters with the furs and for the outfit. 1967 A. M. Johnson in Saskatchewan Jrnls. (Hudson's Bay Rec. Soc.) p. xxviii, He sent Bird to Buckingham House with instructions to leave the summer master in charge there. |
| 1934 R. G. Linton Vet. Hygiene (ed. 2) vi. 446 The well-known suppurative form of mastitis..is especially prone to attack dry cows and virgin heifers during the summer months... This form is often referred to as epidemic mastitis or *summer mastitis. 1970 W. H. Parker Health & Dis. Farm Animals xv. 212 Infection of a dry cow or unbred heifer with..summer mastitis, is as common in beef as in dairy breeds. |
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxix. 30 Lairdis in silk harlis to the eill, For quhilk thair tennentis sald *somer meill. |
| 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. 190 In some Rotifers, the eggs are distinguishable, as in certain Turbellaria, into *summer and winter ova. |
| 1388 Wyclif Judg. iii. 20 He sat aloone in a *somer parlour. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 26 So he left them a while in a Summer Parler below. 1732 Berkeley Alciphron I. 95 As we sate round the Tea-table, in a Summer-Parlour which looks into the Garden. 1829 Scott Guy M. Introd., The old man led the way into a summer parlour. |
| 1617 Wither Abuses ii. iv. 277 They know how to discommend A May-game, or a *Summer-pole defie. 1619 Pasquil's Palin. B 3 b, Since the Sommer-poles were ouerthrowne, And all good sports and merryments decayd. |
| 1786 Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 174 *Summer prune by displacing all fore-right productions. 1980 V. Canning Fall from Grace vii. 118 They summer pruned the wistaria. |
| 1960 News Chron. 6 Aug. 6/4 The *summer-pruned laterals are further shortened. |
| 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art of Husbandry xvii. 396 To the Boughs that put out in Spring, give a *Summer pruning a little after Midsummer. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. July, Vines..will be satisfy'd with a single winter and one summer Pruning. 1806 W. Pontey Forest Pruner 235 As a general rule, we think summer is preferable to winter-pruning. 1895 Meehan's Monthly May 87/1 Summer pruning is especially effective with coniferous trees... One who understands this business of summer pruning an evergreen can so manage that the tree forms an absolutely perfect specimen. 1972 G. E. Brown Pruning Trees, Shrubs & Conifers iii. 50 Summer pruning..promotes spur formation. |
| 1933 E. C. Carver Pract. Catering vi. 114 *Summer pudding. Thin slices of stale bread, stewed fruit... Serve with cream or custard. 1974 P. Haines Tea at Gunter's xx. 206 Heaping my plate with summer pudding..I looked at the bread on my plate, oozing deep crimson juice. |
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1627 *Somur qwenes, and qwaintans, & oþer qwaint gaumes. 1590 Greene Mourning Garm. C 3 b, Faire she was as faire might be..Beautious, like a Sommers Queene. |
| 1820 Good Nosology 466 Lichen..Tropicus..Attacks new settlers in the West Indies, and other warm regions... Prickly heat. *Summer-rash. |
| 1832 Louisville (Kentucky) Public Advertiser 12 July 3/5 He has prepared his House and Garden at the lower end of Jefferson Street, for the purpose of making it a general *Summer Resort. 1846 Chambers's Miscellany XIV. cxxi. 32 Musselburgh,..another pleasing summer resort, is situated two miles eastward. 1853 E. T. Turnerelli Kazan II. i. 4 This village is a favourite place of summer-resort for the inhabitants. 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xv. 257 For a summer resort one can spend weeks very pleasantly there. 1882 G. W. Peck Peck's Sunshine (1883) 125 He said he should at once begin..by boarding at a summer resort hotel. 1974 Times 12 Nov. 14/1 Mr and Mrs Ronald Heywood own a 56-bedroom two star hotel in a summer resort on the east coast. |
| 1889 Advance (Chicago) 19 Sept. 673/3 At Astoria the *summer resorters distribute themselves to the various beaches. 1907 ‘Mark Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 327 They respected these elegant summer-resorters. |
| a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 228 It is an Injury..upon Corn, when it is *Summer-ripe, not to be cut down with the Sickle. |
| 1820 S. H. Wilcocke in L. F. R. Masson Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest (1890) II. 224 With the *summer road they were acquainted and that, therefore, they followed. 1909 Gow Ganda (Ontario) Tribune 17 Apr. 6/2 What will be the cry on the summer roads when we reach those points where the dense forest and rocks obstructs the view ahead? 1974 E. C. Stacey Peace Country Heritage i. 7 A few farmers used the..summer road. |
| 1748 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (1753) I. 307 On the Summit of this Hill his Lordship built a *Summer-room. 1797 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. xiii, One of the pleasantest Summer-rooms in England. |
| 1899 J. F. Fraser Round World on Bicycle xxvi. 324 All the millinery shops in Oxford Street begin their early *summer sales or spring-clearance sales. 1923 A. Huxley Antic Hay xvi. 223 If I wait till the summer sale, the crêpe de Chine will be reduced by at least two shillings. 1976 Times 2 Aug. 16/3 The usual summer sales hiatus. |
| 1893 F. E. Rhorer Meat Man's Friend 33 By making *summer sausage the same as above, but allowing the meat to be very coarse, it is called Salami. 1965 House & Garden Jan. 60 Summer sausage or Thüringer. These terms are interchangeable with dried cervelas. In fact, all dried sausages of this type are called summer sausage. 1976 T. Gifford Cavanaugh Quest (1977) x. 181 She sliced thick chunks of summer sausage. |
| 1860 J. C. Patteson Jrnl. Sept. in C. M. Yonge Life J. C. Patteson (1874) I. ix. 473 In taking away natives to the *summer school, it must be understood that some..are taken..merely to teach us their languages. 1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier Schoolmaster 1 You might teach a summer school. 1919 M. Beer Hist. Brit. Socialism II. iv. xiv. 294 In 1906 a Fabian Summer School was established. 1967 B. Jefferis One Black Summer (1968) i. 1 The grounds and buildings would be full of summer school students: doctors who longed to pot; dressmakers who yearned to try their hands at sculpture. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 3 Dec. 9/2 The lecturer..led his summer school audience down the howling avenues of Joycean puns. 1981 V. Glendinning Edith Sitwell xvi. 205 In August Edith had lectured..at a summer school in Cambridge. |
| 1768 Ross Helenore 69 Yon *summer sob is out, This night looks well,..The morn, I hope, will better prove. |
| 1876 Dunglison Med. Lex., *Summer Spots, Ephelides. |
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 332 To *Summer-stir, to Fallow Land in the Summer. 1766 Complete Farmer, To Summer-land, or To Summer-Stir, to fallow land in the summer. |
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farm 555 At mid-May you shall manure it, and in Iune you shall giue it the second earing, which is called *Sommer-stirring. |
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §587/4 Straw hat, a *summer stock theater, in which plays are tried out. 1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man vii. 64, I was once approached by a talent scout in summer stock. 1965 New Statesman 2 July 20/1 There is a very funny story about Maury Stein, a Summer Stock actor at Indian Lake. 1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief iii. vi. 262 ‘Where've you acted before?’..‘Well..noplace.’..‘Not even summer stock?’ |
| 1853 Root & Lombard Songs of Yale 4 Presentation Day is the sixth Wednesday of the *Summer Term, when the graduating Class..are presented to the President as qualified for the first degree, or the A.B. 1859 J. A. Symonds Let. Feb. (1967) I. 181, I always connect it in my mind with that interminable Harrow Summer Term. 1922 Times 11 Oct. 11/5 During the last weeks of the Summer Term, at the request of the Lord Chancellor, I undertook the trial of undefended suits for divorce, and heard about four hundred cases. 1980 C. Fremlin With no Crying ii. 8 It looked like being the best summer term ever... O-levels were still a full year away. |
| 1801 Monthly Mirror June 414 ‘Make hay while the sun shines,’ has been found a most salutary maxim at the *summer theatres. 1938 L. Bemelmans Life Class ii. vii. 189 They were..Bavaria's greatest peasant actors... Their theater, part of the inn, was not the usual..summer theater, a converted old barn, but a real theater. 1981 N. J. Crisp Festival i. 15 Who in their right mind..would have dreamed of a summer theatre at..a somewhat shabby would-be genteel spa. |
| 1818 in Thirsk & Imray Suffolk Farming 19th Cent. (1958) 104 To leave all the muck, dung and compost made the last year and all hay, clover hay and *summertilths. 1903 in G. E. Evans Farm & Village (1969) 160 Beans and Peas to be twice clean hoed or a clean summertilth. 1970 in ― Where Beards wag All viii. 89 Ploughing a long fallow or summer-tilth was a very hard and slow job for the man and his horses. |
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 49 The head of thys sedicion was *sommer topped, that it coulde haue no tyme to sprynge any higher. |
| 1555 Acts Parl. Scot., Mary (1814) II. 500/1 Gif ony wemen or vthers about *simmer treis singand makis perturbatioun to the Quenis liegis in the passage throw Burrowis. |
| 1883 Graphic 14 Apr. (Advt., rear cover), Youth's overcoat, *summer weight. 1931 Daily Tel. 22 May 9/6 Summer-weight weaves in hopsack, tweed, and knitted mixtures. 1968 A. Diment Bang Bang Birds v. 66 It's hell trying to keep a crease in bottle green, summer-weight cavalry twill. 1977 Time 27 June 46/2 The story also has some pretty serious problems, or perhaps more accurately, some puzzling aspects for what is intended as summer-weight entertainment. |
| 1896 W. R. Fisher in W. Schlich Man. Forestry V. i. 6 It [sc. spring-wood] contains less woody substance than the *summer- or autumn-wood of the same annual zone. 1930 Forestry IV. 10 The greater length of the summer wood tracheids of the Sitka spruce is in accordance with the observations of Lee and Smith. 1982 Sci. Amer. July 35/2 These make the directly visible springwood ring, followed once the tree is great with leaf by a wider, denser, darker ring of mixed fibrous growth and small summerwood vessels. |
| 1886 Cheshire Gloss., *Summer-work, a summer fallow. |
| 1682 Martindale in Houghton Coll. Lett. Impr. Husb. No. 11. 125 If it [sc. land] grow weedy or grassie, we sometimes Fallow or *Summer-work it. |
| 1793 J. H. Campbell in Young's Annals Agric. XX. 124 The fallows (or *Summer-workings) are tumbled over by the plough, and jingled over by harrows. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 263 Rotation of different crops, fallowing, summer-working. |
| 1912 Standard 20 Sept. 8/7 Cottonseed oil irregular, *summer yellow spot 10 up, October option 9 points down. |
b. In names of animals and plants which are active or flourish in summer (often rendering L.
æstivus,
æstivalis as a specific name):
summer cock dial., see
quots.;
summer crookneck, a small yellow or orange summer squash with a curved neck;
summer cypress = belvedere 2;
summer duck, a North American duck,
æx sponsa, the wood-duck;
summer finch U.S., a popular name for birds of the genus
Peucæa;
† summer fool, a species of
Leucojum;
summer grape, a North American wild grape,
Vitis æstivalis;
summer grass, (
a) the grass of summer; (
b) the Australian hairy finger-grass,
Panicum sanguinale;
summer haw,
Cratægus flava;
summer hemp = fimble n.1 1;
summer-herring, (
a) a herring taken in summer; (
b)
U.S. applied to some fishes resembling the herring, as the alewife,
Clupea serrata;
summer rape,
Brassica campestris (
Treas. Bot. 1866);
summer red-bird, the rose tanager,
Pyranga æstiva, which summers in N. America;
summer rose, (
a) a rose of summer; (
b) an early kind of pear;
summer savory (see
savory 1);
summer snake = green snake 1;
summer snipe, the common sandpiper,
Tringoides hypoleucus;
summer snowflake (see
snowflake 3);
summer squash, any of several varieties of the gourd
Cucurbita pepo whose fruits are eaten young;
summer tanager = summer redbird;
summer teal, the garganey;
† summer-whiting = pelamyd 1;
summer-worm, a worm or maggot that breeds in summer;
summer yellowbird, a N. American wood-warbler,
Dendrœca æstiva.
| 1790 Grose Provinc. Gloss. (ed. 2) Suppl., *Summer-cock, a young salmon at that time. York City. 1882 Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 69 In Northumberland a ‘milter’ or spawning male is known as a summer-cock or gib-fish. |
| 1890 Amer. Naturalist XXIV. 731 *Summer crooknecks appeared in our garden catalogues in 1828. 1969 Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 122/1 ‘Summer Crookneck’..has bright yellow or orange, warty fruits, shaped like a crooked club. |
| 1767 Abercrombie Ev. Man his own Gardener (1803) 735/2 Belvidere or *Summer Cypress. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants (1836) 206 Kochia scoparia..summer Cypress. |
| 1732 Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 449 The *Summer Duck..is one of the most beautiful of Birds. 1743 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina (1754) I. 97 The Summer Duck..is of a mean size, between the common Wild Duck and Teal. 1860 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 199 The Summer-duck of America..delights in woods. |
| 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 373 Peucæa æstivalis illinoensis, Illinois *Summer Finch. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxviii. 121 Leucoium Bulbosum præcox. Timely flowring Bulbus violet... In English we may call it..after the Dutch name Somer sottekens, that is, *Sommer fooles. 1629 Parkinson Parad. (1904) 16 Diuers sorts of Crocus or Saffron flower will appeare, the little early Summer foole or Leucoium bulbosum. |
| 1814 F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentr. I. 169 Vitis æstivalis sinuata..is known by the name of *Summer-grape. 1834 J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. II. 92 The Summer Grape..occurs in all the barren lands of the Western Country. 1949 Amer. Photography Apr. 244/3 The summer grape is somewhat similar to the blue grape. |
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 65 Which..Grew like the *Summer Grasse, fastest by Night. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 3 The rich loads of summer-grass or grain. 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Pl. Australia 102 Panicum sanguinale,..Summer Grass. |
| 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. (1860) 124 C[ratægus] fláva, Ait. (*Summer Haw). |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. 118 The light *Summer-hemp, that bears no Seed, is called Fimble hemp. |
| 1614 T. Gentleman England's Way 20 A barrell of *Summer-herrings, worth 20 or 30 shillings. 1883 Wallem Fish Supply Norway 17 The catch of Summer-herring and Sprat in the Fisheries of the years 1876–1881. |
| 1743 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina (1754) I. 56 Muscicapa rubra. The *Summer Red-Bird. This is about the size of a Sparrow..and..is of a bright red. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 111 Summer Red-bird, rich rose-red, or vermilion, including wings and tail. |
| 1727–46 Thomson Summer 354 Full as the *summer-rose Blown by prevailing suns, the ruddy maid. 1841 Whittier Lucy Hooper 3 All of thee we loved and cherished Has with thy summer roses perished. 1860 Hogg Fruit Manual 214 Pears..Summer Rose (Epine Rose; Ognonet; Rose; Thorny Rose). |
| 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. ii. 551 *Summer Snake. Coluber æstivus... Native of many parts of North America, residing on trees. |
| 1802 Montagu Ornith. Dict., Sandpiper—Common... It is known in some places by the name of *Summer Snipe. 1849 Kingsley Misc. (1859) II. 251 The summer snipes flitted whistling up the shallow. |
| 1815 W. Bentley Jrnl. 14 Aug. (1914) IV. 346 A more free use has been made of the *summer squash than ever before known. 1902 Harper's Bazaar Sept. 766 There was nothing in her larder except a summer-squash pie. 1981 Farmstead Mag. Winter 37/1 Winter squash, of course, shares space in seed catalogs with its sister vegetable—the summer squash. |
| 1783 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds II. i. 220 *Summer Tanager. A little bigger than an House Sparrow. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 317. |
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 101 Querquedula Cristata..ab aucupibus dicta, the *Summer-Teal. 1766 [see garganey]. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 80/1 n. |
| 1624 Middleton Game Chess v. iii, The pelamis Which some call *summer-whiting, from Chalcedon. |
| 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1130 The English call them [sc. water-worms] *Summer-worms, either because they are seen only in Summer, or they die in Winter. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 59 Lumbrici aquatici, Summer-Worms. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 313 The jagged alligator, and the..behemoth..multiplied like summer worms On an abandoned corpse. |
| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 97 Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler. Golden Warbler. *Summer Yellow-bird. |
▪ II. summer, n.2 (
ˈsʌmə(r))
Also 4
sumer, 4–5
swmmer,
somere, 4–8
somer, (6
somor), 5
sommere, 6–9
sommer;
Sc. 6–7 (9)
symmer, 9
simmer, (
shimmer). See also
sommier2.
[a. AF. sumer, somer, = OF. somier (mod.F. sommier) pack-horse, beam = Pr. saumier, It. somaro, somiere:—pop.L. saumāriu-s, for sagmārius, f. sagma (see sum n.2). For the sense-development cf. horse and F. cheval. The
OF. word was adopted in
MLG. somer long thin pole or tree.]
I. † 1. A pack-horse. (
Cf. somer 1,
soumer.)
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 746 [They] tynt bot litill of thar ger, Bot gif it war ony swmmer [v.r. summer] That in the moss wes left liand. 14.. Guy Warw. (ed. Copland ? 1560) Cc j b, His neck is great as any sommere; he renneth as swifte as any Distrere [MS. Auch. l. 7163 As a somer it is brested bifore in þe brede & swifter ernend þan ani stede]. c 1470 Love's Bonavent. Mirr. xiv. (Sherard MS.), Ȝoure..knyghtes,..horses and herneyes, charyotes and summeres. |
II. 2. † a. gen. A main beam in a structure.
Sc. (in genuine use).
Obs.| 1324 Acc. Exch. K.R. Bd. 165 No. i. m. 4 (P.R.O.), Pro iiijxx xvij. somers pro springaldis..xij li. xviij.s. viij.d. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 696 The stane..hyt the sow in sic maner, That it that wes the mast summer..In-swndir with that dusche he brak. 1533 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials (1833) I. *163 [Breaking their] dooks, [and Fishing in the water of Dee,..and destruction of the] symmeris [and] hekkis [thereof]. |
| 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 219 That they might place their Summers in the parts nearest the banks..and in the middle where it was deepest their boats. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magick iv. i. 113 Binde [the vines]..fast to the summers or beams with the sprigs of Broom. 1715 Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 85 These summers were join'd with other summers across them. |
b. 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.)
| 1359–60 Sacrist Rolls Ely (1907) II. 193 In xij lapidibus pro pendauntz postes portandis iij someres et xx linteles. 1448 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 8 The Someres of the seid hows shall be one side xij inch squar and on the other part xiiij inch squar. 1532 in Bayley Tower Lond. (1821) App. i. p. xviii, A roffe of tymber, and a bourde made complete, w{supt} a somer and joystes. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. To Rdr. b 3, The saide roome beganne to shake againe, so that one of the sommers of the chamber sprang out of the mortesse, and bowed downeward two feete, but fell not. 1623 Something Written Occ. Accid. Blacke Friers 25 At an instant the maine Summer or beame brake in sunder. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 42 Double Mortises, which doe but weaken the Summers. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 96 Mortaises made ready for Plates, Chimney Pieces, and also for Somer and Joysts. 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1850) I. 431 In a framed floor the summers were the main beams, the girders were framed into the summers, and the joists into the girders. |
The senses ‘large stone laid over a column in beginning a cross vault’ and ‘lintel of a door, window, etc.’, which are given in Dicts., do not appear to be in genuine English use, but are from French: see
1728 Chambers
Cycl. (copying
Dict. de Trévoux) and
1842 Gwilt
Archit. Gloss. 3. In various other technical applications.
a. pl. The framework of stout bars fitted with cross rails or staves, which is added to a cart or wagon to extend its capacity.
b. A beam in the bed or body of a cart or wagon.
† c. The sound-board of an organ.
Obs. d. Sc. (see
quot. 1825).
e. In the old hand-press, a rail or cross-bar mortised into the cheeks of the press, to prevent them from spreading.
f. Tanning. A horse or block on which skins are pared, scraped, or worked smooth.
† g. In the spinet, any of the ribs supporting the board holding the tuning-pins.
Obs. h. In a lapidary's mill, each of two opposite bars supporting the bearings of the wheels.
i. ‘The large beam on the top of a cider-press..which sustains all the pressure’ (
W. Som. Gloss. 1886).
| a. 1510 Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) C iij, Epyredia, the somors or the rauys [mispr. rauye]. 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Somers or rathes of a wayne or carte. 1802 James Milit. Dict., Sommers, in an ammunition waggon, are the upper sides, supported by the staves entered into them with one of their ends, and the other into the side pieces. |
| b. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 The bodye of the wayne of oke, the staues, the nether rathes, the ouer rathes, the crosse somer. 1886 West Som. Gloss., Summer,..(tech.) the longitudinal parts of the bottom of a wagon. |
| c. 1659 J. Leak Waterwks. 29 The 12 holes that are in the Summer serves to conveigh the wind of the said Summer..to the Organ Pipes. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Sound-board, The Sound-board, or Summer, is a Reservoir, into which the Wind..is conducted. |
| d. 1662 Lamont Diary 15 Jan. (1810) 179 The whole roofe and symmers of that said kill were consumed, and only about 3 bolls oatts saffe. 1809 Edinb. Even. Courant 21 Dec. (Jam.) As some servants..were..drying a quantity of oats on the kiln, the mid shimmer gave way, when three of them were precipitated into the killogy. 1825 Jamieson, Simmer, Symmer,..one of the supports laid across a kiln, formerly made of wood, now pretty generally of cast metal, with notches in them for receiving the ribs, on which the grain is spread for being kiln-dried; a hair cloth, or fine covering of wire, being interposed between the ribs and the grain. |
| e. 1662 Evelyn Sculptura ii. (1906) 13 Upon the Summer or head of the Press marked C let the paper prepared and moistned for the impression lye ready. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing x. ¶4 This Summer is only a Rail Tennanted, and let into Mortesses made in the inside of the Cheeks. |
| f. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Parchment, The Skin, thus far prepared by the Skinner, is taken..by the Parchment-Maker; who first scrapes or pares it dry on the Summer. 1837 Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades (1842) 370 (Parchment-maker) The workman then stretches the skin to dry in the sun,..being done enough, it is..placed on the summer, or horse, to be again pared and smoothed with the stone. 1860 Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts, Parchment Making (1867) II. 275/2 The parchment maker..stretches it tail downwards upon a machine, called the sumner, consisting of a calf-skin mounted on a frame. |
| g. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 692/2 [The spinet] consists of a chest or belly..and a table of fir glued on slips of wood called summers, which bear on the sides. |
| h. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 739 In each of these summers a square hole is cut out..which receives the two ends of the arbor [of the cutting wheel]. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 299/1. |
4. attrib., as (sense 1)
† summer-saddle; (sense 2);
summer bar, the upper summer of a lapidary's wheel;
summer-beam,
-tree = sense 2 b;
† summer-piece,
summer-stone (see
quot. 1833);
† summer-trestle, ? a railed rack on a trestle-like stand.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 739 Every thing that stands above the upper *summer-bar has been suppressed in this representation. |
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 241 b, The carpenter or wryght hath leyde the *summer bemys [trabes] from wall to wall, and the ioystis a crosse. 1766 Complete Farmer s.v. Balk, The summer-beam, or dorman of a house. 1859 Parker Dom. Archit. III. ii. vii. 322 The summer-beam well moulded. |
| c 1429 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 445 Et iij *somerpecys xij{supd}. |
| 1398–9 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 215 Uno *sumersadill et 2 hakenaysadilles. |
| 1792 J. Wood Cottages (1806) 9 The *summer stone..becomes an abutment..and support to the rest of the tabling. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §209 Summer stones (stones placed on a wall, or on piers, for the support of beams, or on the lower angle of gable ends,..as an abutment of the barge stones). Ibid. §1368 Ridge-tiles, gutter tiles, valley-tiles, and barge and summer-stone tiles. |
| 1452 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 282 Principalls with *somere trees conuenient vnto the werk. 1623 Nottingham Rec. IV. 388 For takinge vp two summertrees. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Summer-Tree, (among Carpenters) a Beam full of Mortises, for the ends of Joists to lie in. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2453/2. |
| 1605 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 170 A waller, iiij days fillinge the holles aboute the endes of the *somer trisle in the cowhowse, xij{supd}. |
▪ III. summer, n.3 (
ˈsʌmə(r))
[f. sum v.1 + -er1.] 1. 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.
| 1611 Cotgr., Nombreur, a numberer, reckoner, teller, summer, counter. 1643 Digby Observ. Relig. Med. (1644) 50 This last great day (the summer up of all past dayes). 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. iii. 29 That aptitude..which made him so skilful a summer-up of arguments. 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVIII. 140 A summer-up of the tottle of the whole. 1863–5 Staton Rays Loominary (1867) 68 Awm but a bad summer at th' best o toimes. 1960 J. Bayley Characters of Love iii. 130 Here the confident summer-up of Othello might become a little uneasy. |
2. Electronics. A circuit or device that produces an output dependent on the sum of two or more inputs or of multiples of them.
| 1958 W. J. Karplus Analog Simulation ix. 234 Since the output voltage is proportional to the sum of the input voltages, this circuit is termed ‘summer’. 1968 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. ii. 5 The summer would have many input voltages, each one representing the factors for heat gain..or the heat loss. 1981 R. G. Irvine Operational Amplifier Characteristics vii. 176 The gain of this circuit may be changed from unity by modifying the value of the feedback resistor on the inverting summer. |
▪ IV. summer, v.1 (
ˈsʌmə(r))
Forms: 5–7
somer, 6–7
sommer, (5
someryn,
somoryn, 6
soommer,
Sc. 6
symmer, 9
simmer), 5–
summer.
[f. summer n.1 Cf. MLG. som(m)eren, LG. sommern, MHG. sumer(e)n, summern, G. sommern and sömmern, ON. sumra.] 1. intr. To pass or spend the summer, to dwell or reside during the summer (now chiefly
Sc. and
U.S.); (of cattle, etc.) to be pastured in summer.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 464/2 Somoron [Winch. MS. someryn], or a-bydyn' yn' somyr, estivo. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. xviii. 6 The foule shal sommer vpon it, and euerie beast of the earth shal winter vpon it. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 806 The Ancient Nomades,..who from the moneth of Aprill unto August, ly out skattering and sommering..with their cattaile. 1819 Southey Let. to N. White 14 Oct., A great many Cantabs have been summering here. 1842 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 100 He is summering at Castellamare. 1880 E. Cornw. Gloss. s.v. Summering, Store cattle..are sent summering under the care of the moorland herdsmen. 1895 A. M. Stoddart J.S. Blackie II. 154 A short stay with Dr and Mrs Kennedy, who were summering at Aberfeldy. 1899 Mark Twain Man corr. Hadleyb., etc. (1900) 93 A lady from Boston was summering in that village. |
† b. transf. To pass one's time pleasantly.
rare—1.
| 1568 C. Watson Polyb. 82 After they had ben vexed with long warres in Scicilie, & concluded a league with the Romans, they hoped to soommer and keepe holydaie. |
2. trans. To keep or maintain during summer;
esp. to provide summer pasture for (cattle, etc.): said of the land or the grazier. Also
transf. Cf. summering vbl. n.1 1.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 335 Maides well Summer'd, and warme kept, are like Flyes at Bartholomew-tyde, blinde, though they haue their eyes. 1601 Account Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 119 For someringe ii stirkes, xs. 1610 W. Folkingham Feudigr. ii. x. 63 How many Cattell such a Plot will Winter and Sommer, feed or keepe. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 208 If your Colts be not well weaned, well summered and wintered. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. xliv. 190, I am obliged to allow three acres to summer a cow. 1810 J. T. in Risdon's Surv. Devon p. ix, Dartmoor summers an immense number of..sheep. 1883 Standard 3 Apr. 3/5 It should be the aim of the grass-land farmer to summer as many and winter as few animals as possible. |
b. spec. in the management of hunters.
| 1825 Sporting Mag. N.S. XV. 343 Now for summering the hunter. 1862 G. J. Whyte-Melville Inside Bar v, The fascinating pursuit for which they [sc. hunters] have been bought, and summered, and got into condition. 1879 Fearnley Less. Horse Judging 114 Our present plan of summering hunters in boxes instead of out in the open. |
† c. fig. To give (a person) a ‘sunny’ or happy time.
Obs.| 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Sir Greg. Nonsence Wks. (1630) ii. 3/2 Time now that summers him, wil one day winter him. |
d. refl. or intr. To sun oneself, bask. Chiefly
fig.| 1837 C. Lofft Self-form. II. 133 Summer house indeed:—and truly my best feelings..summered themselves there most complacently. 1848 Aird Devil's Dream xxx, Thou shalt summer high in bliss upon the hills of God. 1906 J. Huie Singing Pilgr. 18 To sun and summer in the smile of God. |
3. to summer and winter:
a. To spend the whole year; also
transf. to remain or continue permanently (
with).
| 1650 C. Elderfield Civ. Right Tythes 210 The best and usefullest Constitutions of State are those experienced firm ones, that have lived, summered and wintered with us, as we say. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 276 Grey-headed negroes, who had wintered and summered in the household of their departed master for the greater part of a century. 1832 ― Alhambra II. 209 The ruined tower of the bridge in Old Castile, where I have now wintered and summered for many hundred years. |
b. trans. To maintain one's attitude to or relations with at all seasons; to associate with, be faithful to, or adhere to constantly; hence, to be intimately acquainted with; also, to consider or discuss (a subject) constantly or thoroughly;
† occas. to continue (a practice) for a whole year. Chiefly
Sc.| a 1626 Breton Packet Mad Lett. i. §15 Wks. (Grosart) II. 10 Shake of such acquaintance as gaine you nothing but discredit, and make much of him that must as well winter as summer you. 1644 Rutherford Serm. bef. H. of Comm. 31 Jan. 1643 To Chr. Rdr. A 2 b, Whatever they had of Religion, it was never their mind both to summer and winter Jesus Christ. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 197 [Presbyterianism] was not suitable to the eternal gospel, for the fautors of it did scarce summer and winter the same form of discipline. 1726–8 P. Walker Life Peden To Rdr. (1827) p. xxxv, These have been my Views and digested Thoughts, that I have summer'd and winter'd these many Years. 1816 Scott Antiq. xliv, We couldna think o' a better way to fling the gear in his gate, though we simmered it and wintered it e'er sae lang. 1849 Longfellow Kavanagh xx. Prose Wks. 1886 II. 370, I know the critics root and branch,—out and out,—have summered them, and wintered them,—in fact, am one of them myself. 1865 Mrs. Stowe Little Foxes (1866) 29 Mrs. Crowfield, who..has summered and wintered me so many years, and knows all my airs and cuts and crinkles so well. 1891 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Let. to H. Spencer 28 Mar., I am always afraid of ‘summering and wintering’ a subject too much. |
c. intr. To consider or discuss a matter at great length; to be tediously long in discourse.
Sc.| 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xcviii, I'm no for summering and wintering about the matter. 1832 Blackw. Mag. XXXII. 651 The Provost was thus summering and wintering to me. 1833 Galt Gudewife in Fraser's Mag. VIII. 654/1 What would you be at, summering and wintering on nothing? |
4. trans. To make summer-like, summery, balmy, or genial.
| 1863 S. Dobell An Autumn Mood Poet. Wks. 1875 II. 332 Myself a morning, summer'd through and lit With light and summer. 1868 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xi. (1878) 228 His rough worn face, summered over with his child-like smile. 1896 A. Austin England's Parting i. iii, Till your name Soared into space and summered all the air. |
Hence
ˈsummered (with
adv. prefixed),
ˈsummering ppl. adjs.| 1804 A. Seward Mem. Darwin 337 The seas of glass, the noble rocks, the ever-summered gales. 1836 Fraser's Mag. XIII. 233 Regularly Nimrodded, as the term for a well summered hunter now is. 1887 Swinburne Locrine i. i. 10 Seas that feel the summering skies. |
▪ V. † summer, v.2 Archit. Obs. rare.
In 8
sommer.
[Back-formation from summering vbl. n.2] intr. To radiate from or converge towards a centre, like the joints of an
arch.| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 279 Let the breadth of the upper part of the Keystone be the height of the Arch, viz. 14 Inches, and Sommer, from the Centre at I. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 9 The Key-stone..ought to..Sommer (or point with its 2 edges) to the Centre. |