Why this word is great
WINTERTIDE — [Noun] The season or period of winter, especially as conceived in its full, traditional, and cyclical passage. From Middle English wintertid, wyntertyde, from Old English winter ("winter") + tīd ("time, period"). Unlike the neutral, utilitarian "wintertime" or the precise, momentary "solstice," wintertide is the entire, slow-moving ceremonial procession of the dark half of the year. It is the long blue shadow of a bare oak, the profound silence of a world muffled under snow, and the patient, latent cold stored in the stones of a hearth; it is the deep, ancient recognition that this, too, is a tide, and all tides must eventually turn.