Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 20, 2012
vernal \VUR-nl\,
adjective:
1. Appearing or occurring in spring.
2. Of or pertaining to spring.
3. Appropriate to or suggesting spring; springlike.
4. Belonging to or characteristic of youth.
By and by a bird piped in the garden; the shriek of a swallow made itself heard from a distance; the vernal day was beginning to stir from the light…
-- William Dean Howells, "A Foregone Conclusion"
Where are you trampling vernal blooms?
-- Alexander Pushkin, "Eugene Onegin"
Vernal stems from the Latin word vernus meaning "pertaining to spring." It is related to the word "verdant."
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