Au*tum"nal (?), a. [L. auctumnalis,
autumnalis: cf. F. automnal.] 1. Of,
belonging to, or peculiar to, autumn; as, an autumnal tint; produced
or gathered in autumn; as, autumnal fruits; flowering in autumn; as,
an autumnal plant.
Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa.
Milton.
2. Past the middle of life; in the third
stage.
An autumnal matron.
Hawthorne.
Autumnal equinox, the time when the sun crosses
the equator, as it proceeds southward, or when it passes the autumnal
point. -- Autumnal point, the point of the
equator intersected by the ecliptic, as the sun proceeds southward; the
first point of Libra. -- Autumnal signs, the
signs Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, through which the sun passes between
the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.