Seasonable vs. Seasonal

Seasonable vs. Seasonal The words seasonable and seasonal both relate to the seasons of the year, but their meanings arent quite the same. The adjective seasonable means usual or suitable for a particular season of the year; taking place at an appropriate time. The adjective seasonal means relating to, dependent on, or characteristic of a particular season of the year. See Usage Notes, below. Examples After enduring two years of severe drought, we are finally enjoying some seasonable weather this summer.The old English song â€Å"John Barleycorn Must Die† describes the seasonal ritual of rendering grain into ale. Usage Notes Heat and humidity are seasonable here in summer means theyre normal for this season of the year. Sentimentality is seasonal at Christmas means its typical or characteristic of Christmas seasons. Seasonable can also mean opportune or in time, as in Their arrival was seasonable, just when we hoped for it. If people arrive seasonably, they are on time or even a bit early; if they arrive seasonally, they visit annually at about the same season of the year. Never use seasonable for seasonal (the other possible confusion almost never occurs.) Unseasonable, unseasonal, unseasonably, and unseasonally are precise antonyms of seasonable, seasonal, seasonably, and seasonally respectively.(Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University Press, 1993)Seasonal is used much more frequently than seasonable. A seasonal job is one that is available only at a particular time of the year: seasonal employment such as selling ice-creams in the summer. A seasonal chan ge is one that takes place at a particular time of the year: Allowing for seasonal factors, unemployment dropped slightly last month.(Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of English Spelling. Wordsworth, 1999) If youre talkin winter, spring, summer or fall, youre talkin seasonal; only if youre talkin about whats right and proper for those times are you correct to use seasonable.(William Safire, The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time. Simon Schuster, 2004) Practice (a) The lack of _____ clothing was one of the greatest hardships experienced by the children of the frontier.(b) In the early nineteenth century, there was a significant increase in the scale of _____ migration from Ireland to Britain during the harvest season. Answers (a) The lack of  seasonable  clothing was one of the greatest hardships experienced by the children of the frontier.(b) In the early nineteenth century, there was a significant increase in the scale of  seasonal  migration from Ireland to Britain during the harvest season.