Some people thrive in frigorific conditions embracing the hiemal weather. Others, like me, appreciate the brumal beauty of the hibernal season but shun the cauldrife feeling.
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Eastern Canada where―no matter how you say it―it’s winter and it’s cold! But it’s also beautiful as I’d like to demonstrate in this week’s blog post. And, just to keep things interesting, I’d like to share some of the new words I’ve learned to describe all things winter. 
There are 16 wintry words featured in this blog post. I’ll kick off with my favorite―frigorific―and then present the other 15 terms in alphabetical order.
1. Frigorific (link to pronunciation)
Frigorific is a useful, but uncommon, adjective meaning “producing cold, freezing; cooling”.
Shown below is a rock revetment along the shoreline at Point Prim on Prince Edward Island. The Northumberland Strait was frozen over and covered in masses of frozen ice chunks as far as the eye could see. The freezing temperatures and cold winds resulted in a frigorific walk to the Point Prim Lighthouse.
2. Algid (link to pronunciation)
Algid meaning “cold, chilly; freezing, frozen; frigid” is an ideal descriptor for this algid scene at Oakfield Park in Nova Scotia. 
The photo was taken from the same viewpoint, albeit at a completely different time of year, as this one which I shared in my previous blog post A Walk in the Park.
3. Apricity (link to pronunciation)
Apricity is “the warmth of the sun in winter”. This noun is included in nearly every article I read about wintry words making it, arguably, the most popular, obsolete, winter word. I have to agree―apricity is a great word for one of the best features of winter. 
4. Brumal (link to pronunciation)
Like many of the words featured in this blog post, the word brumal comes from Latin. According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, the Latin word brūma means “winter; also, the cold of winter, wintry weather”. It is the root of the adjective brumal which is defined as “of, belonging to, or characteristic of winter; wintry”.
Many years ago, I had occasion to spend time in Bratislava, Slovakia for my work. This beautiful, historic city was the perfect backdrop for the extreme brumal weather that seemed to occur every time I visited.
5. Cauldrife (link to pronunciation)
Despite having just stated that many of the words featured in this blog post originate from Latin, this word is Scots. Cauldrife comes from cauld-, meaning cold in Scots, and -rife, meaning abundantly or copiously in English. Cauldrife, which is defined as “cold or chilling in feeling or manner” is a useful word for describing how the cold of winter makes a person feel.
Regardless of the beauty of the bright blue skies and the snow-covered fields, I was cauldrife during my visit to Fort Amherst on Prince Edward Island.
6. Chionophile (link to pronunciation)
I might consider myself to be an anthophile (lover of flowers), a turophile (lover of cheese) or a xenophile (lover of foreign cultures, peoples and customs) but I would not consider myself to be a chionophile (lover of snow). I do appreciate, however, that chionophiles have their reasons.
Fluffy, white snowflakes falling gently from the sky, as shown below, are one aspect of snow that I can appreciate.
The first photo is my sister Marian’s backyard in Oakfield, Nova Scotia while the second photo is my backyard in Lake Oconee, Georgia. Despite the miles that separate these two locations, we occasionally experience the same weather. 
7. Flakelet
In their online article, What is the Cryosphere?, the National Snow and Ice Data Center explains “Snow is precipitation made up of ice crystals. When low temperatures and high humidity levels combine in the atmosphere, ice crystals grow—typically in clouds. These tiny crystals often stick together. When the crystals get heavy enough, they fall as snowflakes. … Most snowflakes are less than 1.3 centimeters (0.5 inches) across. Under certain conditions … much larger and irregular flakes can form, nearing 5 centimeters (2 inches) across.”
Although this scientific explanation doesn’t mention the term, the six online dictionaries I consulted all agree a flakelet is a small flake (typically a snowflake). Check out the flakelets beside the ice bubble shown below.
8. Frore (link to pronunciation)
Frore is an adjective meaning “frosty, frozen, intensely-cold”. It’s an old English term which seems to be especially popular with poets. The line, “What matter if the days be dark and frore” in the poem The Skylark by Frederick Tennyson, is a case in point.
The day was bright and frore when I enjoyed this view of the Brighton Beach front range light in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
9. Gelid
Gelid is defined as “extremely cold, cold as ice, icy, frosty”. Interestingly, in addition to describing extremely cold weather conditions, gelid can be used to describe icy people or behaviors.
Here are several photos featuring gelid water―from a thin gelid layer over small stones or sand to massive, gelid blocks filling the Northumberland Strait.
10. Hibernal (link to pronunciation)
The word, hibernal, means “of, relating to, or occurring in winter”. Hibernal is often used in the context of the seasons. For instance, Wikipedia explains: “In temperate and sub-polar regions, four seasons based on the Gregorian calendar are generally recognized: spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter. Ecologists often use a six-season model for temperate climate regions which are not tied to any fixed calendar dates: prevernal, vernal, estival, serotinal, autumnal, and hibernal.”
Hydrangea blooms, with their delicate, paper-like, flowerheads dusted in snow, can be quite beautiful during the hibernal season. 
11. Hiemal (link to pronunciation)
Hiemal is another adjective meaning “of or pertaining to winter; wintry”. Hiemal comes from the Latin hiems meaning winter or winter weather. Wiktionary lists three synonyms for hiemal: hibernal, brumal, and wintry.
Walking along the Rhine River was one of my favorite activities when we lived in Cologne (Köln), Germany. It was the ideal way to get some exercise, get close to nature and experience the changing of the seasons. This photo captures one of my most memorable hiemal moments from those walks. 
12. Marcescent (link to pronunciation)
Marcescent refers to a plant part which has withered but hasn’t fallen off. “Marcescence”, as explained by Wikipedia, “is most obvious in deciduous trees that retain leaves through the winter. Several trees normally have marcescent leaves such as oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus) and hornbeam (Carpinus) … some but not all species of willows (Salix).”
I’m not sure which type of tree is pictured below but the sparkling snow on these marcescent leaves is striking.
13. Névé (link to pronunciation)
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes the types of snow in their online article, Science of Snow. “Snow cover, also called a snowpack, is the total of all the snow and ice on the ground. It includes new snow and previous snow and ice that have not melted.
. New snow is a recent snow deposit in which the original form of the ice crystals can be recognized. …
. Névé is young, granular snow that has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted; névé that survives a full melt season is called firn. This type of snow is associated with glacier formation.”
Névé is typically observed on high mountains such as the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
14. Rime (link to pronunciation)
The Science of Snow article also describes the types of snow crystals. “Rime frost”, for instance, “occurs when supercooled droplets freeze and attach onto an exposed surface. The moisture typically comes from freezing fog or mist droplets that turn directly from a liquid state to a solid state, with calm winds.”
The swath of pure white trees, visible on the right in the background of this photo from Zermatt Switzerland, are likely covered in rime. 
15. Smurr (link to pronunciation)
Occasionally, a word sounds like the subject it describes. Smurr, which is “a drizzly fog, mist or light rain”, is a case in point.
Smurr surrounds this rustic shed along a hiking trail in Zermatt.
The trees were obscured by smurr on this wintry day in Oakfield, Nova Scotia.
16. Subnivean (link to pronunciation)
The final wintry word, subnivean, is an adjective meaning “occurring beneath a layer of snow”. Wiktionary explains “The subnivean climate is the environment between fallen snow and terrain. This is the environment of many hibernal animals, as it provides insulation and protection from predators.
The subnivean climate is formed by three different types of snow metamorphosis: destructive metamorphosis, which begins when snow falls; constructive metamorphosis, the movement of water vapor to the surface of the snowpack; and melt metamorphosis, the melting/sublimation of snow to water vapor and its refreezing in the snowpack. These three types of metamorphosis transform individual snowflakes into ice crystals and create spaces under the snow where small animals can move.”
Although I didn’t observe any animals in the snowpack pictured below, it appears to exhibit the characteristics of a subnivean climate. 
I hope this blog post adds a little color to your hibernal season, or at the very least, provides a few new words for your next game of Scrabble.
More Info
Previous blog posts mentioned in this blog post include:
. A Walk in the Park about Oakfield Provincial Park in Nova Scotia Canada.
The following online resources were consulted in writing this blog post:
. Oxford Latin Dictionary by Oxford University Press which is available here on Internet Archives
. Wiktionary website
. Oxford English Dictionary website
. Collins Dictionary website
. Merriam Webster Dictionary website
. Dictionary.com website
. Urban Dictionary website
. Science of Snow article and What is the Cryosphere? on the National Snow and Ice Data Center (at the University of Colorado Boulder) website
. Pronunciation.com website
. Various Wikipedia articles.
Today’s Takeaways
1. There is beauty in all of Mother Nature’s seasons.
2. No matter how you describe it―hiemal, hibernal or brumal―the winter season is a necessary stage in the natural cycle.
3. It never hurts to add a few new words to your vocabulary.
