| 释义 |
▪ I. season, n.|ˈsiːz(ə)n|
Forms: 4–5 seson(e, -un(e, -oun(e, -owne, -yn(e, ceson(e, -un, -oun(e, 5–6 Sc. sessoun, 6 Sc. sessone, sesone, -oun; 4 seysyne, 4–5 seyson(e, -oun, 5 seison; 6 Sc. saison, sasoun, -one; 4–5 seasun, 5 seasone, (seosynne), 5–6 ceason, 6 Sc. seasoun, 4– season.
[ME. seson, a. OF. seson, seison (mod.F. saison) = Pr. sazó-s, Catal. sahó, Sp. sazon, Pg. sazão, It. dial. sason:—L. satiōn-em act of sowing (in vulgar Lat. time of sowing, seed-time), n. of action f. sa- root of serĕre to sow.
Not connected with the synonymous It. stagione, which represents L. statiōn-em station.]
I. A period of the year.
1. a. Any one of the periods, longer or shorter, into which the year is naturally divided by the earth's changing position in regard to the sun, and which are marked by varying length of day and night, by particular conditions of weather, temperature, etc. More specifically, each of the four equal periods—Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter—into which the year is divided by the passage of the sun from equinox to solstice and from solstice to equinox; also, each of the two periods—the rainy and the dry—into which the year is divided in tropical climates.
Often with defining word prefixed, as summer, winter, May, Lent season (see the different words).
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 929 But whan þe daies dimme ben hit doþ hem to mourne, For siht of þe sesoun þat semus vnbliþe. c1350Will. Palerne 29 Þe sauor of þe swete sesoun & song of þe briddes. c1386Chaucer Prol. 347 After the sondry sesons of the yeer, So chaunged he his mete and his soper. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 72 Off þe ffoure seysouns of þe ȝere. 1548Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 19 Fyrste for their labour of all ceasons of the yere. For there is no tyme of the yere, in whiche the ploughman hath not some speciall worke to do. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 72 In such a season born when scarce a Shed Could be obtain'd to shelter him or me From the bleak air. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 122 The rainy Season, and the dry Season, began now to appear regular to me. 1727Swift Gulliver iii. iv, All the Fruits of the Earth shall come to Maturity at whatever Season we think fit to chuse. 1822Trans. Hort. Soc. (1826) VI. 115 Directions for forcing Onions to produce bulbs in clusters, at an early season. 1845–7Longfellow Evangeline i. ii. 1 Now had the season returned, when the nights grow colder and longer. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 624 The sunny and rainy seasons came and went Year after year. 1866Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xlii, The autumn drifted away through all its seasons.
b. In personification and art-representation.
a1700Evelyn Diary 22 Oct. 1644, The 4 Seasons in white marble. 1821Shelley Adonais xviii, Fresh leaves and flowers deck the dead Seasons' bier.
c. A day or period of the year marked by some special festivity, as Christmas and New Year.
1791Burns Let. to Cunningham 23 Jan., Many happy returns of the season to you, my dear friend! 1821Lamb Elia i. All Fool's Day, The compliments of the season to my worthy masters, and a merry first of April to us all!
d. In reckoning time or age: A year, twelve-month. (Cf. summer.)
1827Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. 43 A child of about five years or ‘seasons’ old. 1833Tennyson Two Voices 82 Will thirty seasons render plain Those lonely lights that still remain, Just breaking over land and main?
2. A period or time of year mentioned with reference to the conditions of weather, etc. that characterize it in a particular year.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 39, I entred in þat erber grene, In augoste in a hyȝ seysoun, Quen corne is coruen wyth crokez kene. c1450Holland Howlat 7 So soft was the sessoun our Souerane dovne sent.., That all was amyable owr the air and the erd. 1526Tindale Acts xiv. 17 Gevynge vs rayne from heven and frutfull ceasons. 1663Evelyn Diary 16 July, A most extraordinary wet and cold season. 1676Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 34 The season continues so seveere I cannot get away my ill cold nor goe out of the house. 1812G. Chalmers Dom. Econ. Gt. Brit. 298 The corn act..appeared..to have completely failed..owing to..the unfavourable seasons. 1855Tennyson Maud ii. v. viii, The lily and rose That blow by night, when the season is good. 1871Schele de Vere Americanisms 540 Season is, in the South, often misused for ‘weather’. ‘This is a good season for planting’ does not mean, this is the proper time, but, this is favorable weather for planting tobacco.
3. a. The time of year assigned to some particular operation of agriculture.
13..K. Alis. 61 (Bodl. MS.), By ham [sc. the planets] men han þe seysyne To londe, to watre to corne to wyne. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 523 Se-sounez schal yow neuer sese of sede ne of heruest. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 112 (MS. F.) In cesoun of heruest-tyme. c1400Destr. Troy 178 And alse sede in þe season sowe it on þe erthe. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort., Feb. (1679) 10 Now is your Season for Circum⁓position by Tubs or Baskets of Earth. 1796C. Marshall Gardening v. (1813) 63 The season for committing seeds to the ground should be early as the nature of the plant to be cultivated will bear.
b. local. (See quots.)
1778[W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric. 20 Oct. 1775 note, Season..signifies (here, at least) the state of the soil at seed-time. Thus, if at seed-time the soil be clean, in high tilth, and neither too wet nor too dry, the Farmer is said to have got a good season—or a fine season. If it be cloddy, a rough season. 1875Parish Sussex Dial. 101 Season, ground in good condition. 1876Surrey Gloss. s.v., ‘To make a good season’ is to get the land in good condition for sowing.
4. The time of year when a plant flourishes, when it blooms or bears fruit, etc. (See also 15 b.)
a1300Cursor M. 22881 Ilkin frut in his sesun. c1386Chaucer Frankl. T. 306 Appollo, god and gouernour Of euery plaunte, herbe, tree and flour, That yeuest, after thy declinacion, To ech of hem his tyme and his seson. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 49 Also in that Contree..Men fynden longe Apples to selle, in hire cesoun. 1535Coverdale Ps. i. 3 Like a tre..yt bringeth forth his frute in due season. 1637Milton Lycidas 7, I come to pluck your Berries harsh and crude... Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear, Compels me to disturb your season due. 1747–96H. Glasse Cookery xii. 184 Half a pint of green peas, when it is the season for them. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano ii. vi. 85 Grass and leaves may flourish all the year, But corn and fruit one season only own.
5. The time of year when an animal is in heat, pairs, breeds, migrates, is killed for food or hunted, etc. (Also pairing season, breeding season, close, etc. season.) † of (the) season = in season (see 15 b).
c1400Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) iii, Þere [sc. the bucks'] seson dureth fro þe moneth of May into þe mydle of Septembre. 1486Bk. St. Albans e v, The seson of the fox [is] fro the Natiuyte Tyll the annunciacion of owre lady fre. c1490Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 86, I..desire and pray you to caus a bucke of season to be taken. 1576Turberv. Venerie lxxix. 240 The seasons of all Chaces. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iii. 169, I warrant you Bucke, And of the season too. 1603― Meas. for M. ii. ii. 85 Euen for our kitchins We kill the fowle of season. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 101 Six Seasons use; but then release the Cow, Unfit for Love, and for the lab'ring Plough. 1711Steele Spect. No. 78 ⁋5 The Day was fix'd for the Entertainment, which was in Venison Season. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. Index 14 Not to leap many Mares in a Season. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 123 My neighbours were not as birds of the season; they neither despised nor forsook me because of my poverty. 1842Tennyson Audley Court 32 Then touch'd upon the game, how scarce it was This season. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1112 Its effect upon the skin may also interfere with the coming of the season upon the ewe. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, Others went after butterflies and birds'-eggs in their seasons.
attrib.c1400Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) iv, Þei [sc. Roebucks] renneth wele and longer þan dothe a grete hert in þe hye seson tyme.
6. fig. Time of ripeness or maturity. Cf. 15 c.
1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 289 Bot leit the sueit ay the sour to gud sesone bring. a1639Carew To A.L. 79 O then be wise, and whilst your season Affords you days for sport, do reason. 1648Eikon Bas. iv. 18 Whose..impatience was such, that they would not staie the ripening and season of Counsels, or fair production of Acts, in the order, gravitie, and deliberateness befitting a Parliament; but [etc.].
†7. A term or session of a court, university, or the like. Phr. to keep season or hold season. Obs.
a1400Arthur 137 Arthour wolde of honour Hold a fest at Eestour..; And sende Messanger To kynges ferre & neer..To come to þis Dyner... They come þyder in gode aray, And kept þeire Ceson At the Castell Carlyon. c1435Torr. Portugal 2157 Sir Torent dwellid thare Fourty days in moche care, Season for to hold. 1669Evelyn Diary 13 July, Which the Vice-Chancellor promis'd to do the next season. 1825Wardrop in M. Baillie's Wks. I. Life 9 He there attended the Greek and Latin classes during the first two seasons; in the third season he became a diligent mathematician.
8. A period of time astronomically fixed or recurring. † Also, a period or phase of an eclipse.
1535Coverdale Gen. i. 14 That they maye be vnto tokens, seasons, dayes, and yeares. 1666Rook in Phil. Trans. I. 389 Those Seasons of the Eclipse, when there is the suddenest Alteration in the Apparences. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 187 He in whose hand all times and seasons roul. 1820Keats Hyperion i. 293 The sacred seasons might not be disturb'd. Therefore the operations of the dawn Stay'd in their birth. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxvi. 4 How in seasons due vanishes orb upon orb.
9. The portion of a year regularly devoted to a particular business, sport, or amusement, or when the greatest activity prevails therein. Often with defining word, as the fishing, hunting, publishing, racing, theatrical, holiday season. The period when such pursuits are inactive is called the dead, dull, or off season; see also silly season.
1687Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 100 When I was at Chio, I could not have that Diversion, for then it was not the Season. 1718Free-thinker No. 68. 86 Publick Business, and Publick Diversions, have the same Season. 1740Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 144 He bound himself to give them two plays every season. 1798Forester in Paget Papers (1896) I. 115 We have this day had the best run of the Season. 1820W. Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 248 In the season of 1684, fourteen of their ships were wrecked. 1856H. H. Dixon (‘The Druid’) Post & Paddock 303 That gentleman bought Hermit and rode him for nine seasons. 1878Athletic World 5 Apr. 7/2 Pickwick Bicycle Club. The season will be commenced by a run to..Edmonton on Saturday. 1891E. Kinglake Australian 87 The ‘season’ in Australia—by which is indicated the dance-giving period—is winter and early spring.
10. The period of the year during which a particular place is most frequented for business, fashion, or amusement; esp. the time (now May to July) when the fashionable world is assembled in London. dead season, the period when ‘society’ has departed from a place of resort.
1705J. Taylor Journ. Edinb. (1903) 68 Most of the Gentry of the North of England and Scotland resort hither [to Scarborough] in the Season of the year, but we hapned to be something of the latest. 1709Steele Tatler No. 50 ⁋7 Until the Company was gone, and Season over. 1760H. Walpole Let. to Mann 20 Jan., You cannot figure a duller season: the weather bitter, no party, little money [etc.]. 1766[Anstey] Bath Guide x. 6 What Numbers one sees, who, for that very Reason Come to make such a Figure at Bath ev'ry Season! 1789Triumphs Fortitude I. 10 Be happy in all the enjoyments this dead season can afford. 1836Marryat Japhet xxi, The season was now over, and everybody of consequence quitted the metropolis. 1870H. Smart Race for Wife ii, She gave up her season in London.
11. transf. (from 2).
†a. A spell of (bad or inclement) weather.
1605Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 32 How shall your House-lesse heads..defend you From seasons such as these? 1667Milton P.L. x. 1063 And teach us further by what means to shun Th' inclement Seasons, Rain, Ice, Hail and Snow, Which now the Skie with various Face begins To shew us in this Mountain.
b. spec. The ‘rains’ or spells of wet weather in tropical countries. In the southern U.S., ‘a shower of rain or period of damp weather suitable for setting out tobacco and other plants’.
1707Sloane Jamaica I. Introd. 15 After Seasons, i.e. three or four or more days rain, all manner of provisions, Maize, Guinea-corn, Pease, Potatos &c. are planted. 1766Stork Acc. E. Florida 63 It often happens in the West-Indies, as it did last year, that when the ground is prepared, and the cane planted, the rains, or seasons as they are called, fail. 1873Routledge's Young Gentl. Mag. July 478/2 The seasons were only just over, and all tropical nature was fresh.
II. gen. A time, period, occasion.
12. a. A particular time or period during which something happens, or which is defined by some characteristic feature or circumstance. See also night-season, mean season (mean a.2 2).
a1300Cursor M. 3509 God was þe werld in þat sesun And mikel it bar o benisun. Ibid. 5419 Quils þam lasted þat sesun dere. c1400Destr. Troy 1442 A Sesyn of sorow þat þere suet after. c1450in Aungier Syon (1840) 268 Euery persone that..hath there the rewle of the religion atte leste for that ceson. 1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 234 Duryng the season that the seid ship lay in the Dokke. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 650 During this season the Queene was greatly encouraged with the victory, obteyned late at Wakefielde. 1665Boyle Occas. Medit., Disc. iv. iv. (1848) 69 When we greedily pursue after Honour, and Pleasure, of which this Life is not the proper Season. 1777Burke Let. to Sheriffs of Bristol Wks. 1842 I. 215 Calamity is unhappily the usual season of reflection. 1833Macaulay Ess., War Success. Sp. ⁋5 His annual revenue..in the season of his greatest power. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 278 They may have been well pleased to accept a season of peace even at the hands of the stranger.
b. for a season: for an indefinite period, for some time, for a while. Similarly, for a long, short, etc. season. Also adverbially, without for.
1465Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 1/17 Than stode y stille a litile Sesone. 1481Coventry Leet-bk. 500 There hath long season depended variance & contrauersie betwixt you. 1526Tindale Luke iv. 13 He departed from hym for a season. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxv. 267 Than Oberon stode styll a season. 1668Culpeper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. ix. 21 That it might further the Stomachs Concoction, and make the meats abide therein, a convenient season. 1790Cowper Iliad xix. 169 Or if it please thee, though impatient, wait, Short season. 1851Carlyle J. Sterling i, This most..beautiful human soul; who walked with me for a season in this world. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 70 He was constrained for a season to leave the successors of Leofric and Siward in possession of [etc.].
13. a. (Without the idea of duration.) A time at which, or occasion when, something happens. at, † in this (or that) season, at this time; on this occasion; also adverbially without in. at, † in, on a season, at a certain time. at all seasons, at all times, always. at seasons, on different or recurring occasions, from time to time. Also, fit season, due season, proper season, just season: cf. sense 14. Now rare.
13..Seuyn Sages 3939 He says soth in this sesowne. 1340–70Alisaunder 339 On a season isett assembled they boþe. a1400–50Alexander 881 Sone eftir in a seson,..Come driuand fra Darius..Heraudis on heȝe hors. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 903 Thus was syr Ywayne sted that sesowne. a1440York Myst. xxvi. 42 We seke for youre socoure þis sesoune. 1470–85Malory Arthur xxi. xii. 858 So at a seson of the nyght they al wente to theyr beddes. 1497Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. D iij, And many seasons of y⊇ daye sore wept in remembraunce of y⊇ same. 1519Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 31 Other thynges mo I have in store, That I coude tel therof, but now no more Tyll another season. 1526Tindale Acts xx. 18 After what maner I have bene wyth you at all ceasons. 1611R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 119 He may come to her house,..Court her in all places, and at all seasons. 1628Hobbes tr. Thucydides (1822) 23 These things were done for you in a season when men going to fight against their enemies neglect all respects but of victory. 1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 122 He knew the proper season to shew the violence of his Revenge. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables ccxv. 187 There are Many Cases, and Many Seasons, wherein Men must either Bend or Break. 1711Steele Spect. No. 78 ⁋5 You well know it is of great Consequence to clear Titles, and it is of Importance that it be done in the proper Season. 1827Scott Highl. Widow ii, When Hamish..absented himself from her cottage at such season, and for such length of time as he chose. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. iv, Pike and helm lie provided for thee in due season. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxi. 8 The churl in spirit..Will let his coltish nature break At seasons thro' the gilded pale.
†b. Sometimes substituted for time in collocations proper to that word: as afore seasons = aforetime; in old season, of old. Obs.
1463in Eng. Hist. Rev. Apr. (1905) 301 He as yit stondeth destitute of cxj li. which he afore seisons hath..receyued yerely at þe fest of Estre. 1530Palsgr. 143 Avtemps jadis, afore-season. 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 17, I that in old season..whistled My rural sonnet.
c. (a man, etc.) for all seasons: (one) ready for any situation or contingency, adaptable to any circumstance.
Orig. used with reference to Sir Thomas More (1478–1535); cf. Erasmus Encomium Moriae (1509) Pref., omnium horarum hominem.
1520R. Whittinton Vulgaria fol. 14r And as tyme requireth, [Thomas More is] a man of merueylous myrth & pastymes: and somtyme of sad grauite: as who say a man for all seasons. 1960R. Bolt (title) A man for all seasons. 1968Listener 26 Dec. 842/3 If there can really be no simple account of Mr Powell's general political position save that he is a man for all seasons, the same is true of his position on immigration. 1972A. Price Col. Butler's Wolf xii. 131 She's a nice sort of girl... A girl for all seasons. 1973Listener 29 Nov. 745/1 He [sc . John Kennedy] was a man for all seasons, a man for all people. 1976M. Birmingham Heat of Sun viii. 114 The vulture..a bird for all seasons, I decided, ready to match one's every mood. 1981M. Warner Joan of Arc xiii. 263 Joan, a heroine for all seasons.
14. The right, proper, due or appointed time; a fit or favourable occasion, an opportunity. (Cf. 15 a.) Const. † to, for, to with inf.
a1300Cursor M. 29366 Als suith as he mai sesun se, And wend to rome at soilled be. 13..K. Alis. 5251 The kyng of-sent erles and barouns, For to sopere it was seysouns. 1388Wyclif Eccles. viii. 6 Tyme and cesoun is to ech werk. c1440Generydes 271 So went she fourth hyr seosynne to endure. 1470–85Malory Arthur xix. vi. 781 Thenne whan season was, they wente vnto their chambres. 1484Caxton æsop vi. vii, Alle thynges which ben done & made in theyr tyme & season ben wel made. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2793 A sensuall prynce..Taryed the season to fynde her solytary. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 29 Telling him..it was no season for him to take upon him imperiously. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 146 When my season comes to sit On David's Throne. 1790J. Bruce Trav. Source of Nile I. 78, I had sat up a great part of the night waiting a season for observation, but it was very cloudy. 1851Tennyson To the Queen 30 And statesmen at her council met Who knew the seasons when to take Occasion by the hand.
III. Phrases with prep.
15. in season.
a. At the right and proper time, opportunely. Also (? chiefly U.S.), at the proper time or in good time for or to do something. to be in season, to be seasonable or opportune.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2542 Þre ȝer after was he kyng, In ful sesyne made hys endyng. 1414Deed is Working 79 in 26 Pol. Poems 58 To chastyse fooles is ay in seson. 1484Caxton æsop vi. vii, Therfore hit appiereth wel that the thynges whiche ben made in season ben wel made and done by reason. 1611Bible Isa. l. 4 That I should know how to speake a worde in season [1535 Coverdale in due season] to him that is wearie. 1639Fuller Holy War v. v. (1640) 236 After six moneths siege they surrendered the citie to their own honour, and shame of other Christians who sent them no succour in season. 1649Davenant Love & Hon. v. i. 78, Alt. Good morrow, cavaliers. Vas. 'Twill be an houre yet before that greeting Be in season. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 168 [He] had just cleared one eye, in season, to remark where his enemy entered. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xii, The two young men desired to get back again in good season. 1858Seares Athan. ii. iii. 195 They arrive in season for the meeting. 1872Howells Wedd. Journ. (1892) 312 Mr. March has to be home by a certain day; and we shall just get back in season. 1906W. Walker Calvin v. 108 News of this intention reached him in season to effect his escape.
b. Of game, etc.: At the time for hunting, catching, etc. to be in season: (of a plant or animal) to flourish, be in its finest condition, be in the best state for eating; also, (of an animal) to be in heat. Similarly, to come in or into season.
1375Barbour Bruce vii. 497 Than the deir war in sesoun. 1473Rolls of Parlt. VI. 93/1 Oon Hert, to be taken in season..and 11 Bukkes in season. 1558Act 1 Eliz. c. 17 §1 Any Samons or Trowtes, not being in season. 1576Turberv. Venerie lxxix. 240 Conies are al wayes in season, either yong or old: but their skinnes are in best season from Alhallontide vnto Shrouetide. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 220 Salmon..come in season, and goe out with the Buck. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl., Disc. iv. iv. (1848) 68 If the same Fruit were let alone till it were fully Ripe, and in Season. 1688Holme Armoury ii. 135/1 The Hart or Stagg..is in Season..from Midsummer until Holy-Rood Day. 1709Addison Tatler No. 148 ⁋7 To eat every Thing before it comes in Season. 1772Foote Nabob ii. (1778) 31 Have you any pinks or carnations in bloom? Crocus. They are not in season, your honour. 1807P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 6 A very fine trout..he proved..to be very well in season. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales I. 176 He is in high season, as proved by the crimson of his fins. 1865Reader No. 154. 646/3 The fish being in perfect season from October to June. 1903F. Simpson Bk. Cat iii. 38 Cats come in season about every three weeks during the spring and summer.
†c. fig. Flourishing, at one's best. Obs.
c1400Rom. Rose 4981 As longe as Youthe is in sesoun, They dwellen in oon mansioun. 1625Bacon Ess., Goodness (Arb.) 205 Such Men, in other mens Calamities, are, as it were, in season.
d. Of a place of resort, etc.: (To be) fashionable, in a state of activity. Cf. sense 10.
1718Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 10 Oct., The fair of St. Lawrence is now in season. 1868Earl of Wilton Sports Engl. 68 From the first day of grouse to the last day of pheasants, London is never in season.
e. Of timber: Seasoned.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. i. 2 The masts and yards are chained together in some great water to keepe them from rotting, and in season.
16. out of season.
a. Unseasonably, inopportunely; predicatively, unseasonable, inopportune.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 351 And as wel in lente as oute of lente, alle tymes ylyche, Suche werkes with hem were neuere oute of sesoun. 1548Udall Erasm. Par., Mark i. 29–31 He loueth those that cal vpon him, cal they neuer so importunatly, and out of season. 1649Davenant Love & Hon. iv. iv. 37 Although the rack be somewhat out Of season with my old bones. 1667Milton P.L. v. 850 So spake the fervent Angel, but his zeale None seconded, as out of season judg'd. 1718Free-thinker No. 27. 190 True Wit and Good Sense..can be spoiled only by making use of them Improperly, or out of Season. 1864‘Holme Lee’ Silver Age II. 239 Be consoled—you will have your joys, though they come rather out of season. 1868Tennyson Lucretius 267 Howbeit I know thou surely must be mine Or soon or late, yet out of season, thus I woo thee roughly.
b. Not in season; not at the time for hunting, catching, eating, etc. Also fig.
1500–20Dunbar Poems lix. 18 Off ane vod fuill far owt off seasoun, He wantis nocht bot a rowndit heid. 1683Robinson in Ray's Corr. (1848) 132 We..could not meet with the Macreuse [the scoter], it being now out of season. 1781H. Newdigate Let. 15 Oct. in A. E. Newdigate-Newdegate Cheverels (1898) iii. 46 A Hamper of good things,..Pears & Pines in perfection, Rouleaux never out of season. 1847A. Brontë Agnes Grey xviii. 282, I pretended to want to save it [sc. a hare]..as it was so glaringly out of season. 1960Mrs. Beeton's Bk. Househ. Managem. vii. 93 When a fruit is out of season in one part of the globe it is usually in season in another.
c. Not in fashion; not in its period of fashion.
1847Tennyson Princess Prol. 179 The hard-grain'd Muses of the cube and square Were out of season. 1891Freeman Sk. Fr. Trav. 180 He will prefer Clermont out of season to Clermont in the season.
17. in season and out of season: at all times, without regard to what is considered opportune.
1526Tindale 2 Tim. iv. 2 Be fervent, be it in season or out of season [εὐκαίρως ἀκαίρως]. 1841Helps Ess., Trans. Business (1842) 93 He will be repeating his folly in season, and out of season, until at last it has a hearing.
†18. by season: at the right time, in time. Sc.
1600in Pitcairn Crim. Trials Scot. II. 180 This deponar desyrit Maister Alexander to dischone with him, be ressoun his awin culd nocht be sasone be preparit.
† IV. 19. [f. the vb.] Seasoning, relish, flavour.
c1480Henryson Test. Cress. 421 With Saipheron sals of ane gude sessoun. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. i. 16 Bearing no season, much lesse salt of goodnesse. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 144 The wide sea Hath..salt too little, which may season giue To her foule tainted flesh. 1605― Macb. iii. iv. 141 You lacke the season of all Natures, sleepe. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 44 He had a large proportion of gifts and endowments, but too much of the season of envy. 1664Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 122 Those his Friends who formerly made his adversity more tolerable, and do now give the truest season and sweetness to his better fortune.
V.
20. Short for season-ticket (see 21).
1896Daily News 29 Dec. 7/4 Asked for his ticket, he replied that he had left his season at home. 1901Westm. Gaz. 2 Apr. 9/1 The company..is about to issue third-class seasons.
VI.
21. Comb., as season-cracked, season-measured adjs.; season-check U.S. (see quot. 1905); season cracking, the occurrence of longitudinal cracks in cold-worked brass or bronze; so season crack n. and v. intr.; season ticket, a ticket which admits the holder to travel on a boat or on a line of railway, to enter an exhibition, etc., an unlimited number of times during a season or specified period, at a reduced rate of payment; hence season-ticket holder.
1887J. Kirkland Zury 32 Ye see that *season-check in the butt-end [of a black-walnut log]. 1905Bull. Bureau of Forestry (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 61. 33 Check, a longitudinal crack in timber caused by too rapid seasoning... Syn.: season check.
1909Webster, *Season cracks. 1915Trans. Amer. Inst. Metals VIII. 322 It was found that all those cartridge cases which had season cracked had primers on. 1957R. A. Higgins Engin. Metall. I. v. 87 A controlled low-temperature anneal..applied to hard⁓drawn 70/30 brass tube will effectively reduce its tendency to ‘season-crack’..without reducing strength or hardness. Ibid. II. xiv. 292 Residual..stresses in cold-worked alloys often manifest themselves during service in the form of ‘season cracks’.
1938M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxvi. 347, I got a old dug-out right above here, is mighty sorry and *season-cracked, but hit'd carry you acrost the creek.
1910Brass World VI. 269/1 One of the most annoying things that happens to brass while in use is its *season cracking. 1923Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics V. 410/2 The essential condition for ‘season cracking’ is the presence in the finished article of internal stresses of considerable magnitude. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xxiii. 467 The season cracking of α-brass in ammoniacal environments may be due to local dezincification along the grain boundaries.
1827J. H. Newman Lyra Apost. xliii. (1836) 48 In childhood, when with eager eyes The *season-measured year I viewed.
1820Columbian Centinel (Boston, Mass.) 2 Dec. 1/1 For sale, a Boston Theatre *Season Ticket, at a fair price. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, River, The regular passengers, who have season-tickets, go below to breakfast. 1869W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 1 People who are comfortably in possession of a season⁓ticket over the Stygian ferry. 1953C. Day Lewis Italian Visit i. 14 The season tickets that rattle us back and forth in a groove from Centre to circumference.
1862J. Simmonds Railway Travellers Handy Bk. 48 We may here remind *season-ticket holders to renew their privilege. 1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 228/2 The proportions of passengers, independent of season-ticket holders, were as follows.
▸ Fashion. An annually recurring period for which a range of garments is designed to be worn; (in later use) spec. either of two divisions of the year (autumn and winter, spring and summer) for which designers produce their collections.
In early use sometines overlapping with sense 10.
1824World of Fashion 1 June 29/1 We..[draw] the attention of the members of the fashionable world to the unrivalled excellency of the flowers made this season; they are formed of fine cambric. 1894Daily News 30 Oct. 6/6 The ‘casaque’, or Louis XVI jacket, is another revival of this season. 1907Eng. Gentleman Feb. 1 The Chesterfield and other over⁓coats will also be somewhat shorter than last season. 1956C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xxi. 305 He gave into her [sc. Chanel's] every whim, even setting up a workroom for her at Eaton Hall.., rather than have her return to Paris a month earlier to make her season's collection. 1992L. Gordon Shared Lives ii. 15 You were not really acceptable..if you wore no make-up, or last season's fashion. 2005Bliss July 15 These skinny-leg jeans are great—the cut of the season.
▸ a. A series of theatrical performances or other cultural events with a common link, such as a particular theme or the use of same performers or venue.
1900Times 16 Feb. 11/1 Every one wishes well to Mr. F. R. Benson's Shakespearian season. 1951Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram 26 Sept. b2/5 Gounod's ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be the first presentation of the Euterpe Opera Reading Club's twenty-eighth season of opera in English. 1985J. Randle & M. Watanabe Coping with Japan 69 Tokyo and other cities abound in cheap cinemas showing old films, organizing ‘seasons’ and so on. 2006Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado) (Nexis) 3 Oct. 34 a, Giselle, which opened Colorado Ballet's season at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.., serves as a major test for the company.
b. Broadcasting (chiefly N. Amer.). A single series of a television or radio programme.
1942N.Y. Times 22 Mar. vii. 10/3 ‘Easy Aces’ will round out an easy dozen seasons during which about 1,000 characters have appeared in about 3,000 episodes. 1968S. E. Whitfield in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ iv. v. 352 One episode in the first season called for a seven-foot-tall android. 2005Dreamwatch Feb. 81/3 Season five features such memorable episodes as the mystery-drama The Day of the Dead.
▪ II. season, v.|ˈsiːz(ə)n|
Forms: 4 seasen, 4–5 ses(o)un, 4–6 seson, 5 seeson, sesyn, cesyn, -un, -on, 6 seasyn, (sayson, seacon), Sc. saison, sasoun, cessoune, 4– season.
[a. OF. saisonner (cf. mod.F. assaisonner), f. saison season n.
Sense 1 is a development from the primary sense in OF., to ripen, to render (fruit) palatable by the influence of the seasons (cf. sense 4, which in Eng. appears much later).]
1. trans. To render (a dish) more palatable by the addition of some savoury ingredient.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 889 Seggez hym serued semly innoȝe, Wyth sere sewes & sete, sesounde of þe best. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 110 As salt sesonis all, Þe hartiss at one crist will cale. c1420Liber Cocorum 9 Seson hit with sugur. c1440Promp. Parv. 67/1 Cesyn (P. cesun) or welle aray mete or drynke, tempero. 1530Palsgr. 707/2, I season meate as a coke dothe, je saysonne la viande. c1550Lyndesay Tragedie 357 Ane cunyng Cuke, quhilk best can cessone caill. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge c 5 If seasoned with salt, and spices, it [meat] is yet dryer. 1769E. Bancroft Guiana 324 All season their food with a great quantity of spices. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 68 Take three or four beef steaks cut thick, and season them with pepper, salt, and onion shred fine. 1867Parkman Jesuits N. Amer. xxv. (1875) 366 Maize, pounded and boiled, and seasoned..with morsels of smoked fish.
b. fig. To mix, intersperse, or imbue with something that imparts relish; to adapt or accommodate to a particular taste.
1520Nisbet N.T., Col. iv. 6 Youre word be sesonnit in salt euirmare in grace. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 72 How much salt water throwne away in wast, To season Loue that of it doth not tast. 1596Kemys Relat. 2nd Voy. Guiana E 2 b, Pardon it..if..my speech, which is altogether vnsauourie, season it selfe with some of the leauen of your own discourse. 1667Milton P.L. x. 609 Till I [sc. Sin] in Man residing through the Race, His thoughts, his looks, words, actions all infect, And season him thy [sc. Death's] last and sweetest prey. 1675W. Okeley Eben-ezer Pref. A j, Every Narrator is under a strong Temptation to Season his Discourse to the Gusto of the time. 1699Dryden To John Driden 60 You season still with sports your serious hours. 1711Addison Spect. No. 166 ⁋6 Writers..who employ their Parts in propagating Immorality, and seasoning vicious Sentiments with Wit and Humour. 1822Shelley Faust ii. 10 To..climb those rocks..Is the true sport that seasons such a path.
ironically.1615G. Sandys Trav. 121 He had a hundred blowes on the feet to season his pastimes.
†c. to season with the same liquor: fig., to imbue or endow with the same qualities. Obs.
1648Symmons Vind. K. Chas. 36 Truly we do imagine that our subtile and suspected Brethren..would fain season us with the same liquor, which infecteth them.
†d. To qualify by a beneficial admixture; to moderate, alleviate, temper. Obs.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 149 To reproue you for this suit of yours, So season'd with your faithful loue to me. 1602― Ham. i. ii. 191 Season your admiration for a while With an attent eare.
†2. transf. To imbue with a taste or scent. Obs.
1559Morwyng Evonym. 270 They do al season the urin with their smel. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1601) 538 What licour our vessels bee seasoned with at the first, they will taste of the same euer after.
†b. To imbue (a person, his mind) with opinions, ideas, etc.; in later use only in good sense (cf. 1 b).
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 48 They who had his eare, might easily season him with good or ill opinion of his servants or strangers. 1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 111 ⁋3 [Shakspere] seems to have had his Mind thoroughly seasoned with Religion. 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1754, 6 Mar., Garrick, who I can attest from my own knowledge had his mind seasoned with pious reverence.
†c. intr. To savour of. Obs.
1618Fletcher Chances i. ix, Lose not your labour and your time together, It seasons of a fool, son, time is pretious.
†3. trans. To embalm. Also fig. Obs.
c1440Alphabet of Tales 458, & on þe morn when þai wold hafe opynd hym & sesond hym with spycis at he myght hafe bene curid, he rase vpp & was whikk. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. i. 30 She will..water once a day her Chamber round With eye-offending brine: all this to season A brothers dead loue, which she would keep fresh And lasting, in her sad remembrance. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 171 He hath seene true dead bodies brought in the banquet, after they had been seasoned a good while and dried up.
4. To bring to maturity, ripen; to render fit for use by prolonged exposure to atmospheric influences, or by gradual subjection to conditions of the kind to be undergone in actual working; often, to dry and harden (timber) by long keeping.
1545[see seasoned 3]. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 99 They browght with them Cinamome and gynger: but not very good, bycause they were not there fully seasoned with the heate of the soone. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 74 The houses very seldome keepe out raine, the timbers being not well seasoned. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 161 They also heat their furnace for a weeks time with charcoal without blowing it, which they call seasoning it. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 71 Casks..which their coopers assisted us to trim, season, and fit up. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-T. v. 53 Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned.
b. intr. for refl. To become seasoned.
1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 155 They generally Rough⁓plain their Boards..that they may set them by to season. 1881Cassell's Fam. Mag. VII. 511 An artificial method..which has the effect of ageing the wood in a few hours, as well as if it had been kept seasoning for years.
c. trans. To fortify (a person) by habit against conditions that might otherwise be deleterious; to acclimatize.
1601Mountjoy Let. in Moryson Itin. ii. (1617) 108 They will come over well cloathed against the Winter and may have time to rest, and to be seasoned, till Christmas. 1760Goldsm. Cit. W. cxix, Many of them died, because they were not used to live in a gaol, but for my part it was nothing to me, for I was seasoned. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxix. In war well season'd, and with labours tann'd. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii, And easy, smiling, seasoned sound, Sate the king when healths went round.
†d. To prepare or fit (a person); also, to discipline, train. Obs.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iii. 84 Am I then reueng'd, To take him in the purging of his Soule When he is fit and season'd for his passage? 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. xxii. 253 How schollars may be seasoned and trained vp in Gods true Religion and in grace. 1644Milton Educ. 4 And withall to season them, and win them early to the love of vertue and true labour. 1658Cleveland Rustick Rampant 16 The Kentishmen, seasoned by this Priest or Prophet of the Idol, are easily tempted by the Essexians.
†e. To bring into a healthy condition. Also, to disinfect. Obs.
1601Holland Pliny xxiii. i. II. 148 As touching grapes preserved in earthen pots, they refresh and season the mouth which was out of tast. 1722De Foe Plague (1756) 281 Those people..did take particular Directions for what they called Seasoning of their Houses and abundance of costly things were consumed..which..not only seasoned those houses..but filled the air with very grateful smells.
† f. To temper (metal). Obs. rare.
1730Savery Magnet. Observ. in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 307 Steel cannot be seasoned too hard for Retension. Ibid. 328 With this little Bar naked I touched a small Dial-Needle made of Steel... I seasoned it very hard, and cleansed it well.
†5. Of a bird or beast of prey: To ‘flesh’ (its claws); hence intr. to seize upon. Obs.
It is possible that Palsgrave may have been thinking of season = seisin v.
1530Palsgr. 707/2, I season upon a thynge, as a hauke dothe, je assaysonne. She saysonned upon the fesante at the first flyght. 1540― Acolastus ii. iii. I iij b, This pray is worthy for our clawes .i. this is one as mete for vs to season vpon, as it is mete for any lyon..to season his pawes vpon his pray.
†6. To manure (land). Obs.
1563T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 10 So that the same [dung] be scattered like seedes on the ground, wherby to season ground the better. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. (Arb.) 309 Or as the good gardiner seasons his soyle by sundrie sorts of compost.
†7. To impregnate, to copulate with. Obs. rare.
[1511–38: see seasoning vbl. n. 1 a.] 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 383 When the male hath once seasoned the female he neuer after toucheth her. 1601Holland Pliny viii. xlv. I. 224 This prince..would not suffer the Buls to come unto the Kine and season them, before they were both foure yeares old. |