1. Of, or characteristic of, or occurring in the prime of the year: After such a cold winter, we were looking forward to vernal sunshine.
2. Appearing or occurring in the time before summer: It was easy to observe the vernal migratory movements of the birds.

The vernal season is the period that extends from late April to late May in the northern hemisphere.

3. Appropriate to or suggesting the time after winter; springlike: It was wonderful to see the vernal greenery again.
4. Suggestive of youth; characteristic of youth; such as, being vigorous and fresh: The elderly couple often had vernal longings for their young days.

The point at which the sun's path crosses the celestial equator moving from south to north: The vernal equinox marks the zero point in both the equatorial and ecliptic coordinate systems; horizontal angular distances are measured eastward from this point.

The vernal equinox occurs on March 20 or 21 and the autumnal equinox on September 22 or 23, marking the beginning of spring and autumn, respectively, in the Northern Hemisphere (and the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere).

The term "equinox" comes from Latin meaning "equal night" because the days on which an equinox falls have about equal periods of sunlight and darkness.

A sweet scented Eurasian plant that is sometimes grown as a meadow or hay plant: Vernal grass is said to have a sweet fragrance when it is new-mown hay.

A seasonal body of standing water that normally forms after the cold or very cold time of year from melting snow and other runoff, dries out completely in the hotter months of summer, and often refills in the autumn: Vernal pools range from broad, heavily vegetated lowland bodies to smaller, isolated upland bodies with little permanent vegetation.

The vernal pools don't contain fish and provide important breeding habitats for many terrestrial or semiaquatic species; such as, frogs, salamanders, and turtles.