Origins of Month Names

• January:named afterJanus, protector of the gateway to heaven
• February:named after Februalia, a time period when sacrifices were made to atone for sins
• March:named afterMars, the god of war, presumably signifying that the campaigns interrupted by the winter could be resumed
• April:fromaperire,Latin for “to open” (buds)
• May:named afterMaia, the goddess of growth of plants
• June:fromjunius,Latin for the goddessJuno
• July:named afterJulius Caesar
• August:named afterAugustus, the first Roman Emperor
• September:fromseptem,Latin for “seven”
• October:fromocto,Latin for “eight”
• November:fromnovem,Latin for “nine”
• 12月:fromdecem,Latin for “ten”

More on Months

• Months are based roughly on the moon. A lunar month is 29¹/2 days, or the time from one new moon to the next.
• 12 lunar months leave 11 days remaining in the solar year.
• To help you remember the days of the month, remember “30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February, which has 28.”

NOTE: The earliest Latin calendar was a 10-month one; thus September was the seventh month, October, the eighth, etc. July was originally called Quintilis, as the fifth month; August was originally called Sextilis, as the sixth month. For more on the calendar and the names of months, see新的一年的历史