forewinter means the period immediately preceding or leading up to winter. It carries an Arena rating of 1754, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, forewinter ranks #2,911 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,610 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,482 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #4,858 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “forewinter” is a great word
The early period or immediate onset of winter, from the English combining form fore- (meaning "before, in front of") + winter, a lineage it shares with the German Vorwinter and Swedish förvinter. Unlike "midwinter," which names the still, dark heart of the season, or "autumn," a distinct time of harvest and luminous decay, forewinter is the hinge and encroachment. It is the first hard frost that blackens the last of the basil, the skeletal rattle of oak leaves refusing to fall, and the peculiar, thin light that casts long shadows but offers no warmth—a season of ending that insists it is a beginning.
Etymology
From fore- + winter. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fóarwinter (“forewinter”), West Frisian foarwinter (“forewinter”), Dutch voorwinter (“forewinter”), German Vorwinter (“forewinter”), Danish forvinter (“forewinter”), Swedish förvinter (“forewinter”), Icelandic forvetur (“forewinter”).
noun
- The period immediately preceding or leading up to winter.
- The early part of winter.e.g.“The Early Winter, or Forewinter, period has a much less easily defined character, being dominated by alternations of progressive (W'ly or cyclonic) and blocked (anticyclonic) periods in Europe, […]” — 2013, H. H. Lamb, Climate: Present, Past and Future:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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