How the months got their names

How the months got their names

This question comes up in classrooms throughout the school both in maths lessons and in English when we study the meanings of the roots of words. How can you teach about octagons without referring to octopi or October? The problem is October is now the 10th month, so lively discussions can occur about how this can be so.

1.    January Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus.

2.    February februa, this month was the time for the ‘festivals of purificatio’ in Rome.

3.    March after the Roman god of war, Mars.

4.    April from aperire, "to open" because in Europe it is spring and the month when buds begin to open.

5.    May Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honour and reverence.

6.    June The fourth month was named in honour of Juno queen of the Roman gods.

7.    July named after Julius Caesar in his honour in 44 BCE,

8.    August named after Augustus Caesar in his honour in 44 BCE,

9.    September septem, "seven". After July and August were squeezed into the Roman calendar the last four months are wrongly named. For example September the seventh month is in fact our ninth. Some people say as March was the first month of the Roman year September was the seventh but the alternative story, whereby an emperor can create a month and name it after him has more intrigue when teaching the root words “sept, oct, nov and dec”

10. October octo, "eight"

11. November novem, "nine".

12. December  decem, "ten".