Summer is a very old word, quite old, in fact, perhaps because it describes a rather important time of year. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it comes from the Old English sumor, which comes from the Old Frisian (a West Germanic language spoken in the Netherlands) word sumur, related to the Middle Low German sommer, Middle Dutch somer or the Dutch zomer, Old High German sumar, Middle High German sumer and, finally, the German sommer, all tied to the classic Indo-European root, sem-, meaning, as you may have guessed by now, “summer.”

It just all goes to show that it isn’t a coincidence that Old English, as a Germanic language, developed from Old Frisian and other old West Germanic dialects. Cool, huh?

But I said that summer, as such, was old. How old? Well, among its first written appearances into something resembling English can be found in King Alfred the Great’s translation of Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy) that perennial favorite of the early Middle Ages (imagine it as the only pick of Oprah’s Book Club for 500 years).

It appears as “sumera,” in case you’re curious. King Alfred (also known as Aelfred, or the King of Wessex), was the first King of England, at least officially, and thus the ruler of the Anglo-Saxons. A learned fellow, he promoted education and did his best to fight off the Danish Vikings (those pesky raiders!), earning his spot on the list of the 100 most important Britons of all time.

Much later on, another famous Briton, our old pal, William Shakespeare, used summer in a form more recognizable to modern readers in his Sonnet 94 in about 1600, with the line, “the sommers flowre is to the sommer sweet… though to itself it only live and die.”

So, that’s summer for you, or at least a rough sketch of its beginnings, just in time for its official start tomorrow. Please feel free to send your word ideas to wtm2@u.washington.edu. Until next time, cheers!

Reach Will Mari at online@thedaily.washington.edu