All about words: Apricity

December has arrived and along with it, winter’s 'icy fang' and 'hoary-headed frosts' it seems.

But don't you love those days when the sun casts its long shadow and its warmth tempts us to venture outside and bask in its hazy glow?

That’s 'apricity': the warmth of the sun in winter.

'Apricity' first appeared in the English language in 1623, when Henry Cockeram, the English lexicographer and author of the third (known) English language dictionary, recorded it.

From the Latin 'aprīcitāt-em', 'apricus' means 'full of sunlight' and is directly related to 'apricate' which means 'to bask in the sunshine'.

It is apparently not found in any modern dictionary aside from the Oxford English Dictionary.