apricity

In a sentence

• They sat on the steps for the apricity, coats still buttoned against the wind.
• The desk by the window was useless for work and perfect for apricity.
• January hiking is often less about views than about pockets of apricity on south-facing slopes.

Origin

From Latin apricus (warmed by the sun; exposed to the sun), related to April and ideas of opening toward light.

History

Apricity appears in older English word lists and then nearly vanishes from daily speech. Lexicographers kept it as a curiosity more than a workhorse. It returns now and then in essays and social posts because winter sun is a precise sensation that “sunny” does not capture alone.

Nearby words

sunshine · solstice · glare