What does "season" mean?
Each of the four divisions of a year: spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter
Season
/[ˈsiː.zn̩]/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Each of the four divisions of a year: spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter
- Grammar: season is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: time of year, abate, acclimate, acclimatize.
- Useful contrasts: bland, humidify, moisten.
- Usage evidence: The dry season there will set in soon.
How to use "season"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "season" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "season" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "season" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "season" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "season" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "time of year" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "season", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Each of the four divisions of a year: spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter
"we saw, in six days' traveling, the several seasons of the year in their beauty and perfection"
- 2 one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions wordnet
- 3 A period of the year when something particular happens.
"mating season"
- 4 a recurrent time marked by major holidays wordnet
- 5 A period of the year in which a place is most busy or frequented for business, amusement, etc.
"He seldom was seen in the office himself, but occasionally a paragraph in the paper recorded that his yacht had touched at Mentone and that he had been seen at the Monte Carlo tables, or that he was expected in Leicestershire for the season."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field wordnet
- 7 The period over which a series of Test matches are played.
- 8 That which gives relish; seasoning. obsolete
"O! she is fallen Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea Hath drops too few to wash her clean again, And salt too little which may season give To her foul-tainted flesh."
- 9 A group of episodes of a television or radio program broadcast in regular intervals with a long break between each group, usually with one year between the beginning of each. Australia, Canada, US
"The third season of Robot Chicken aired from 2007 to 2008."
- 10 An extended, undefined period of time. archaic
"It was the Winter wilde. While the Heav’n-born-childe, All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies: Nature in aw to him Had doff't her gawdy trim, With her great Maſter ſo to ſympathize: It was no ſeaſon then for her To wanton with the Sun her luſty Paramour."
- 11 A period of time in one’s life characterized by a particular emotion of situation.
"a season of faithlessness"
- 12 The full set of downloadable content for a game, which can be purchased with a season pass.
- 13 A fixed period of time in a massively multiplayer online game in which new content (themes, rules, modes, etc.) becomes available, sometimes replacing earlier content.
Verb
- 1 To habituate, accustom, or inure (someone or something) to a particular use, purpose, or circumstance. transitive
"to season oneself to a climate"
- 2 To flavour food with spices, herbs or salt. transitive
- 3 make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else wordnet
- 4 To prepare by drying or hardening, or removal of natural juices. broadly, transitive
"The timber needs to be seasoned."
- 5 make healthy wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To become mature; to grow fit for use; to become adapted to a climate. intransitive
- 7 lend flavor to wordnet
- 8 To become dry and hard, by the escape of the natural juices, or by being penetrated with other substance. intransitive
"The wood has seasoned in the sun."
- 9 To mingle: to moderate, temper, or qualify by admixture. transitive
- 10 To impregnate (literally or figuratively). obsolete
"When the male hath once ſeaſoned the female, he neuer after toucheth her."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The dry season there will set in soon."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "season"?
Common synonyms include: time of year, abate, acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate, accustom.
How do you use "season" in a sentence?
The dry season there will set in soon.
How do you pronounce "season"?
Pronounced /[ˈsiː.zn̩]/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English sesoun, seson (“time of the year”), from Old French seson, saison (“time of sowing, seeding”), from Latin satiō (“act of sowing, planting”) from satum, past participle of serō (“to sow, plant”) from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, plant”). Akin to Old English sāwan (“to sow”), sǣd (“seed”). Doublet of saison. Displaced native Middle English sele (“season”) (from Old English sǣl (“season, time, occasion”)), Middle English tide (“season, time of year”) (from Old English tīd (“time, period, yeartide, season”)).
Etymology 2
From French assaisonner.