Both 'autumn' and 'fall' are words used in the English language to describe the season that starts on 1 September in the Northern Hemisphere, with fall being commonly used in American English. According to Dictionary.com, the word autumn comes from the old French word 'autompne', which itself originated from the Latin 'autumnus'. The roots of the Latin name are obscure, but it was first recorded in the English language from the late 1300s.