A Winter Dictionary of Warming Words
A Winter Dictionary is a beautifully written guide to warm the coldest of hearts, as the nights drawn in and the cold descends. Including an incredible array of words to superbly capture the season, this is ideal indoor reading.
Discover rare, fascinating and forgotten words on winter months. From frost dogs (tiny frozen particles of falling snow) to chibbly (crisp with frost).
Read posts on keeping safe in snow and frosty mornings.
A few new words to learn!
Abscission – the process by which a leaf detaches from its tree in autumn
Afterlight – the glow that remains in the sky, after the sun has set
Blewse – a blueish morning’s mist
Chirming – the subdued twittering of birds before a storm
Cosmognosis – the instinctive force that tells an animal when and where to migrate
Erythrophyll – a natural pigment that turns leaves red in autumn
Wedge – the v-shaped line formed by geese in flight
Paul Anthony Jones is the author of several books, and has contributed to the online Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries. He lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
When is England’s winter season?
England’s winter season is shorter than many other countries, running only from December to February. Unlike classic alpine winter, our climate is moderated by the Atlantic ocean, so brings wet, grey and breezy weather, rather than lots of snow and ice.
Sometimes you get heavier snow in the Northern uplands (like the Pennines or Lake District). But lowlands are more likely to experience rain and high winds.
The most severe winter ever was in 1963, when people died (even animals as farmers could not reach them). Snowdrifts reached six meters, and the River Thames and even the sea froze.
