by wickedwillie on April 19th, 2005

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What's the origin and meaning of the term "Indian summer"?

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Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

by Schonberg on October 26th, 2008
The word Indian Summer used to be called St. Martins day in Europe (11th November)

The earliest know use of the word was by French American writer St.John de Crevecoeur in New York 1778.

Nowadays it refers to unexpected sunny weather when winter begins.
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- Thanks, that's interesting.
  
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  by LynfromNM on October 26th, 2008
- My fingers are crossed for an Indian Summer this year in Chicago! :-))
  
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  by Chicago Lady on October 2nd, 2009
- Ours are crossed in Cheshire England too.
  
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  by Schonberg on October 2nd, 2009
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by Anonymous on November 10th, 2007
An indian summer is in the fall when the leaves are changing color but it is still a bit warm out.

I am not aware of the etemology of this word.
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by -O-uknow on April 2nd, 2012
If I were to guess the U.S drove Native Americans hundreds of miles onto reservations in dead winter but told them it would be summer.
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by ENigma on April 2nd, 2012
Meaning

An unseasonably warm, dry and calm weather, usually following a period of colder weather or frost in the late Autumn (or in the Southern hemisphere, where the term is less common, the late Spring).

Origins

The earliest known use was by French-American writer John Hector St. John de Crevecoeur in rural New York in 1778: "Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer."

There are several theories as to its etymology:

In Colonial New England and New York, Indian Summer referred only to a January thaw, when American Indian raiding parties could be expected in the western and northern areas: the ground had briefly lost its snow cover so tracking the Native American raiders back to their winter camps was much more difficult for the Colonials.

In The Americans: The Colonial Experience, Daniel J. Boorstin speculates that the term originated from raids on European colonies by American Indian war parties; these raids usually ended in late autumn (due to snow covered ground), hence summer-like weather in the late fall and mid winter was an Indian Summer, a time raiding parties could be expected.
Two other known uses of the term in the 18th century are from accounts kept by two army officers leading retaliation expeditions against Indians for winter raiding parties on settlers in Ohio and Indiana in 1790, and Pennsylvania in 1794.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/indian-summer.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer
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