| 释义 |
autumnal, a.|ɔːˈtʌmnəl|
[ad. L. autumnālis, f. autumnus autumn: cf. F. automnal, 16th c.]
1. Of, belonging or peculiar to, autumn.
autumnal equinox: the time when the sun crosses the equator as it proceeds southward. autumnal point: the point at which the celestial equator is intersected by the ecliptic as the sun proceeds southward; the first point in Libra. autumnal signs: the signs Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. autumnal star (Gr. ἀστὴρ ὀπωρινός): Sirius.
1636Healey Theophrast. To Reader, Posidion was the last Autumnall Moneth in the Attick yeere. 1678Hobbes Nat. Phil. Wks. 1845 VII. 101 From the autumnal equinox to the vernal, there be one hundred and seventy-eight days. 1667Milton P.L. i. 302 Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strew the Brooks In Vallombrosa. 1791Cowper Iliad v. 7 Bright and steady as the star Autumnal. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 427 The autumnal rains of Ireland are usually heavy.
2. Maturing or blooming in autumn.
1574T. Newton Health Mag. 52 Quinces among Autumnal fruictes are reckened..bindinge. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Flower, Let him also plant..autumnal Crocus and Colchicums. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 273 Autumnal Squill..is a somewhat rare plant.
3. fig. Past the prime (of life).
1656Artif. Beauty 59 When her own [haire], now more withered and autumnall, seemed less becoming her. 1728Young Love Fame v. (1757) 137 Autumnal Lyce carries in her face Memento mori. 1838Dickens Old C. Shop 38 Miss Melissa might have seen five and thirty summers or thereabouts, and verged on the autumnal. |