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Origin and history of vernal

vernal(adj.)

"of, pertaining to, or occurring in springtime," 1530s, from Late Latin vernalis "of the spring," from vernus "of spring," from Latin ver "the spring, spring-time."

This is reconstructed to be from PIE *wesr- "the spring" (source also of Old Norse var "spring," Greek ear, Armenian gar-un, Sanskrit vasantah, Persian bahar, Old Church Slavonic vesna "spring," Lithuanian vasara "summer").

Also "of or belonging to youth" as the springtime of life (by 1790).

also from 1530s

Entries linking to vernal

primavera(n.)

"spring, spring time," Italian, from Latin prima vera, plural of primus ver literally "first spring;" see prime (adj.) + vernal. Related: Primaveral.

ver(n.)

"springtime," late 14c., now obsolete, from Old French ver (fem. vere) or directly from Latin ver "the spring, spring-time" (see vernal).

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young
Old English geong "youthful, young; recent, new, fresh," from Proto-Germanic *junga- (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian jung, Old Norse ungr, Middle Dutch jonc, Dutch jong, Old High German and German jung, Gothic juggs), from PIE *yuwn-ko-, suffixed form of root *yeu- "vit
sidereal
The sidereal day begins and ends with the passage of the vernal equinox over the meridian and is about four minutes shorter...
spring
As the word for the vernal season it replaced Old English lencten (see Lent)....
ear
"organ of hearing," Old English eare "ear," from Proto-Germanic *auzon (source also of Old Norse eyra, Danish øre, Old Frisian are, Old Saxon ore, Middle Dutch ore, Dutch oor, Old High German ora, German Ohr, Gothic auso), from PIE *ous- "ear" (source also of Greek ous, Latin aur
body
Middle English bodi, from Old English bodig "trunk of a man or beast; the whole physical structure of a human or animal; material frame, material existence of a human; main or principal part of anything," related to Old High German botah, but otherwise of unknown origin. Not else
keel
"lowest and principal timber of a ship or boat," mid-14c., probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse kjölr "keel," Danish kjøl, Swedish köl), which according to Watkins is from Proto-Germanic *gwele- (3) "to swallow" (see gullet). OED and Middle English Compendium sa
physiology
1560s, "study and description of natural objects, natural philosophy" (a sense now obsolete), from French physiologie (16c.) or directly from Latin physiologia "natural science, study of nature," from Greek physiologia "natural science, inquiry into nature," from physios "nature"
gasoline
"light, volatile liquid obtained from distillation of petroleum," 1864, a variant of gasolene (from 1863 in Britain), which apparently was a trade name at first, from gas (n.1) in its then-popular loose sense of "compound of gases used for illuminating and heating purposes;" the
quit
c. 1200, "excused, exempt, free, clear" (of debt, obligation, penalty, etc.), from Old French quite, quitte "free, clear, entire, at liberty; discharged; unmarried," and directly from Medieval Latin quitus, quittus, from Latin quietus "free" (in Medieval Latin "free from war, deb
romanticism
1803, "a romantic idea," from romantic + -ism. In literature, 1823, in a French context, in reference to a movement toward medieval forms (especially in reaction to classical ones), an association now more often confined to Romanesque. The movement began in German and spread to E

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