Au*tum"nal (&?;), a. [L. auctumnalis, autumnalis: cf. F. automnal.] 1. Of, belonging to, or peculiar to, autumn; as, an autumnal tint; produced or gathered in autumn; as, autumnal fruits; flowering in autumn; as, an autumnal plant.

Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa.
Milton.

2. Past the middle of life; in the third stage.

An autumnal matron.
Hawthorne.

Autumnal equinox, the time when the sun crosses the equator, as it proceeds southward, or when it passes the autumnal point. -- Autumnal point, the point of the equator intersected by the ecliptic, as the sun proceeds southward; the first point of Libra. -- Autumnal signs, the signs Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, through which the sun passes between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.