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Brr! That¡¯s one way of saying Jack Frost is nipping at your nose.

What words come to mind when you think of the cold season? Every language has ways of describing a winter wonderland and all the moments that come with it, from the ¡®withering¡¯ of winter trees to the feeling of the Sun on a chilly day.

We¡¯ve collected some cool wintry words from around the world to help you express those seasonal experiences that may be stuck on the tip of your tongue.

Winter Sun shines through tbare,snowy trees in a wood.
Image caption,
A bit of 'window weather' for you

Aimli¨² (Irish)

Have you ever gone outside to see your flowers battered following a dark and stormy night? In Irish, ²¹¾±³¾±ô¾±¨² describes the damage caused by exposure to rain, frost, wind or other atmospheric phenomena ¨C a very useful word in wintry conditions. One to remember next time you¡¯re caught in the rain!

Gluggave?ur (Icelandic)

Iceland is not permanently frozen as many people think its name suggests: in fact, Iceland is prone to weather that changes frequently all year round. Literally 'window weather', Gluggave?ur is the Icelandic word for weather that¡¯s lovely to look at but unpleasant to be outside in ¨C so if you¡¯re thinking the wintry sunshine looks good enough for a lovely walk only to find it¡¯s a bit too nippy once you step outside, that¡¯s gluggave?ur.

Goahtun (S¨¢mi)

S¨¢mi is the language of Europe¡¯s northernmost indigenous people, the S¨¢mi people, who encounter plenty of snow across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. There are many S¨¢mi words for the different states of snow ¨C for example, goahtun is a Northern S¨¢mi word which describes the ideal conditions for reindeers to find to graze on under a blanket of snow.

English translations don't quite capture the comforting connection between nature, land and water that the word expresses, as well as the reassurance it gives people that there is food for the reindeer to reach.

A young woman, wrapped up in cosy winter clothes, scarf and hat, stands outside while it snows.
Image caption,
Is it cold or are you a bit on the freddoloso side? Probably the first.

Fuyugare (Japanese)

Do you love seeing the snow-capped skeleton trees or rows and rows of frozen fields once autumn has left? There are many Japanese words for seasonal concepts including fuyugare (¶¬¿Ý¤ì). Where fuyu (¶¬), meaning ¡®winter¡¯, meets the verb kareru (¿Ý¤ì¤ë), ¡®to wither¡¯, this vivid word describes the specific kind of bareness that comes with the season.

Unbrak (Scots)

Did you know that Scots has more than 400 words for snow? Linguists at the University of Glasgow logged 421 of them in the Historical Thesaurus of Scots in 2015. They include the word unbrak, which means ¡®the beginning of a thaw¡¯. If your snow sculpture¡¯s become a puddle and the flowers are waking up, it might be unbrak time, meaning this frosty spell is on its way out.

Freddoloso (Italian)

Here¡¯s a useful word for the teeth-chatterers and the blanket-swaddlers who need the heating on 24/7. Freddoloso is an Italian word which describes someone who is prone to feeling cold. A similar term also exists in Spanish, friolero.

Apricity (English)

This is a word from the English language, and while it has nothing to do with April or apricots, it still evokes a sunny feeling ¨C specifically, it describes the warmth of sunlight on a winter¡¯s day. It's an old word, now considered obsolete. Apparently this warmer wintry word didn¡¯t catch on!

Viitsima (Estonian)

Finally, this is not an exclusively wintry word, but one that's particularly useful at this time of year. One feeling many of us will be familiar with is the dreaded lull that comes with getting out of bed on a winter morning when you know it¡¯s going to be horrid outside.

Viitsima is an Estonian verb meaning ¡®to feel like (doing something)¡¯, and its negative form is often used to describe the mental state of being too lazy or not interested. As the cold, rainy weather induces the urge to hibernate, you might hear someone say ¡°ma ei viitsi¡± (I don't feel like it, I can't be bothered). Or maybe you'll want to use its positive form to say that you really feel like a brisk walk on a crisp winter day!

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