Hiemal means pertaining to winter. Hiemal derives from the Latin word hiems (winter) which is also the base for the term hibernate. Hiemal is anything characteristic of, or occurring in winter. Hiemal is also a less common word for hibernal which has the same definition (and if you are like me, you’re going “less common?!”).
Hiemal is quite the rare and uncommon word and it’s earliest documented use seems to be in 1560. There is something poetic about hiemal and it really does seem to suit an atmosphere of winter – all stark contrasts and sharp air, white, heavy snowfalls and brittle frosts, heavy gray skies that give way to a blindingly bright, yet distant sun, a cold that seeps into the very marrow of bones and the cozy, hygge indoors that make the dreary, bleak hiemal days seem maybe not so endless after all.
A hiemal woodland wandering, lost in thought, while the world around is both too sharp and too muffled. The blood in my veins runs fast and warm, yet Nature lays quietly deep in it’s yearly slumber. A time of reflection, of rest and of the kind of cold that is chased away only by the full beatings of the heart… ~ Ella
Hiemal is so lovely and and it’s a word I want to utilize more despite my adoration for the word wintry!
Namaste ~ Ella
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Lawhimsy 