Ancient Words

September comes from the Latin septem, meaning “seven.” It was the seventh month in the original Roman calendar. When January and February were added to the beginning of the year, and July and August were inserted to honor the emperors, September drifted from the seventh position to the ninth—and its name never changed to reflect […]

August was originally Sextilis—Latin for “the sixth month.” Following Julius Caesar’s precedent, the Roman Senate renamed it to Augustus in 8 BCE to honor the emperor Augustus (Octavian), who had consolidated his power and brought an end to decades of civil war. Among his claimed achievements: he defeated Antony and Cleopatra, and the month had

July was not always July. It was originally Quintilis—Latin for “the fifth month,” because in the old Roman calendar (which began in March), it was indeed the fifth. The name made sense. It was logical. It was transparent. Then Julius Caesar came along. In 44 BCE, after his assassination, the Roman Senate renamed Quintilis to

June comes from the Latin Iunius, named after Juno—the queen of the Roman gods, wife of Jupiter, and goddess of marriage and childbirth. The Romans considered June an auspicious month for weddings, and the name honored their chief goddess accordingly. Two thousand years later, English speakers still use her name without knowing who she was.

May comes from the Latin Maius, traditionally believed to be named after Maia—a Roman goddess of growth and increase. Maia was a relatively obscure figure in the Roman pantheon, associated with the earth and spring fertility. She was not one of the major deities; her month was assigned more by custom and convenience than by

April comes from the Latin Aprilis, and its etymology is surprisingly uncertain. The most widely accepted theory connects it to the Latin verb aperire, meaning “to open”—a reference to the opening of buds and flowers in spring. The Romans themselves were not sure; Varro and Ovid both offered competing explanations involving Venus (Aphrodite) and the

March comes from the Latin Martius, named after Mars—the Roman god of war. In the original Roman calendar, March was the first month of the year, and the month when military campaigns resumed after winter. The Romans honored their war god by placing him at the head of the calendar—a choice that made political sense

February comes from the Latin Februarius, named after Februa—a Roman festival of purification and atonement held on the 15th of the month. The festival involved ritual cleansing, offerings to the dead, and the whipping of women with strips of goat skin to promote fertility (a practice the poet Ovid described with characteristic discomfort). None of

January comes from the Latin Ianuarius, named after Janus—the Roman god of doors, gates, beginnings, and transitions. Janus is famously depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward, symbolizing his dominion over past and future, entry and exit. The Romans placed him at the start of the year for obvious symbolic reasons:

Saturday stands apart from the other English day-names. While Monday through Friday come from Germanic deities, Saturday is the only day that retains its Roman origin: dies Saturni, the day of Saturn. The Anglo-Saxons, for reasons lost to history, did not substitute their own god for this one. Perhaps they had no equivalent. Perhaps they