austral

1 of 3

adjective

aus·​tral ˈȯ-strəl How to pronounce austral (audio)
ˈä-
1
: of or relating to the southern hemisphere
2
capitalized : australian

austral

2 of 3

noun

aus·​tral au̇-ˈsträl How to pronounce austral (audio)
plural australes au̇-ˈsträ-lās How to pronounce austral (audio) also australs
: the basic monetary unit of Argentina from 1985 to 1991

Austral

3 of 3

abbreviation

Examples of austral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The Antarctic cruising season runs from late November through March, which coincides with the continent’s austral summer. Dan Fellner, The Arizona Republic, 5 Jan. 2024 During the austral summer, the station is home to about 150 scientists and support staff, but during the austral winter, that number shrinks to just 40 or so, and those people are completely isolated from the rest of the world from mid-February until late October. IEEE Spectrum, 26 Oct. 2023 But this does mean Earth is closer to the sun in austral summer and farther in austral winter, so the corresponding plus-or-minus-five-degree-C shift can amplify seasons to be more extreme in the Southern Hemisphere. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 June 2023 Only about 60% of the people working in the USAP—a community that swells to 1200 in the austral summer—report to Leidos or one of its subcontractors. Byjeffrey Mervis, science.org, 6 Apr. 2023 By March the brief austral summer was already drawing to a close. Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2023 In Chile’s La Araucanía region, for example, the Mapuche people identify the austral pygmy owl (Glaucidium nana) by names—including chon-chon and kijkij that mimic the bird’s calls. Byemiliano Rodríguez Mega, science.org, 8 Feb. 2023 The team arrived in Antarctica toward the end of the austral summer, when temperatures hover between 20 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 11 May 2016 The terrain and conditions under these blindingly blue skies are challenging: Summer temperatures can reach 90 degrees before plummeting 60 degrees, with winter frosts and strong austral winds meaning that a good harvest is never guaranteed. Sorrel Moseley-Williams, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Jan. 2022
Noun
Carlos Menem, president from 1989 to 1999, introduced a bill cutting four zeros off the austral and renaming it the peso, attempting to parallel Argentina’s monetary system to the U.S. dollar. Federico Perelmuter, The New Republic, 21 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'austral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Latin australis, from Austr-, Auster

Noun

Spanish

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1985, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of austral was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near austral

Cite this Entry

“Austral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/austral. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!