prettygoodword (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
prettygoodword) wrote2025-03-11 06:36 am
prettygoodword) wrote2025-03-11 06:36 am
estival
estival or aestival (ES-tuh-vuhl, e-STAY-vuhl) - adj., relating to, occurring in, or appropriate for summer.
Summery. One of my favorite words is estivation, the summer equivalent of hibernation or sleeping through winter, which is a valid strategy for surviving in a desert (such as where I live). In use in English since the 14th century, from Old French, from Latin aestīvālis, adjectival form of aestās, summer, which ultimately comes from PIE *h₂eydʰ-, fire/burn. Interestingly, the Old French/Middle English spelling was estival, with the aestival a more modern respelling to align with the original Latin.
---L.
Summery. One of my favorite words is estivation, the summer equivalent of hibernation or sleeping through winter, which is a valid strategy for surviving in a desert (such as where I live). In use in English since the 14th century, from Old French, from Latin aestīvālis, adjectival form of aestās, summer, which ultimately comes from PIE *h₂eydʰ-, fire/burn. Interestingly, the Old French/Middle English spelling was estival, with the aestival a more modern respelling to align with the original Latin.
---L.