June month. Etymology of the names of the autumn months

The words in English that are responsible for the names of the months largely coincide in written and spoken versions with similar words in Russian and many European languages. This fact is not at all surprising: all these countries use the Gregorian calendar as the basis for calculating the year by months. Therefore, learning how to write and how to pronounce months in English is not at all difficult, but there are some nuances that are difficult.

Historical knowledge about the origin of these words will help you understand how months are written in English. Then memorizing them in writing and in speech will become meaningful and easier.

History of names

These words are not purely English in origin, but have Latin roots. Here is the path to development of each month's name with a brief background, as seen in writing and in modern English.

January

[‘ʤænju(ə)ri]

The first winter month in England before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar was called "Wulf (wolf) Month" (now and henceforth - first written in Old English). This meant “wolf month”, because during this period in England, due to cold weather and lack of food in the forests, wolves came out to villages and began to attack livestock, even people. The name we have now comes from the name of the two-faced Janus, the Roman god of the beginning and the end.

February

[‘febru(ə)ri]

The second winter month in Britain was once called "Sprote Kale Month": this meant that cabbage (kale) began to sprout in the pantries. And in the ancient times of Rome, the month of February was a period of repentance, remission of sins, hence the origin of the name - in honor of the god of purification and remembrance of the dead, Februus.

March

The beginning of spring in the old English calendar was associated with strong winds, which is why this time was called “Hyld Month” - the month of winds. The Gregorian calendar system brought with it a word that arose from the god of war, Mars: March was for a long time in the Roman Empire the first month of the year, accordingly it was named after the main deity.

April

[‘eipr(ə)l]

April, in which, with the introduction of Christianity in Britain, the holy holiday of Easter was always celebrated, was previously called “Easter Month” (Easter - Easter). The emergence of a later name is the subject of many years of debate among linguists. Some argue that the word arose from the name of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Others are more inclined to the version that the ancestor of the word “April” in English was the Roman word “aperio”, meaning “to open, to bloom.” This option is more plausible, because it is in April that the leaves bloom on the trees and the first flowers appear in the meadows.

May

The wonderful month of May, when the meadows were covered with fresh grass, was called by the British in the old days “the month of triple milking” - “Thrimilce (three milk) Month”. The cows happily ate fresh grass after the boring winter hay and gave so much milk that they had to be milked three times a day. The Romans gave May the name in honor of the goddess Maia, who was highly revered by them as bringing fertility and prosperity.

June

June, due to the onset of droughts, was called in old England “Dere Month” (dere is the previous version of the word dry), that is, “dry month.” The Romans named this period in the calendar after Juno, the wife of Jupiter. The ancient goddess, patroness of marriages, was very loved by Roman women.

July

The British called the next summer month “Maed Month” (maed – modern meadow – meadow), “month of meadows”: flowers and herbs bloomed wildly in the pastures. The Romans based the name of July on the name of Emperor Julius Caesar, who was born in this month.

August

[‘ɔ:gəst]

“Weod Month” (weed - herbs, plants) - this is what August was called in old England, because the harvesting of hay for the winter began. The Romans chose the nickname of Emperor Octavian Augustus for the name of this month: “August” meant “divine.”

September

“Harvest Month” or “harvest month” is the old name for the first autumn month. The Roman version comes from the number “sept” (seven): since March was once the first in the Roman calendar, September was correspondingly the seventh.

October

[ɔk’təubə]

October, when they started making wine, the British called “Win (modern wine) Month” - “wine month”. The Roman version is also associated with a number, specifically with the eighth place of October according to the old calendar - “octo” in Latin.

November

November was once called “Blod (blood) Month”, translated as “bloody month”. In the pre-Christian period, it was a time of sacrifices (sometimes even human) to pagan gods. The Romans, again, did not think too much and gave November a name based on the serial number from the Latin word “novem” - nine.

December

Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the British called December “Halig (holy) Month”, that is, “holy month”: after all, Jesus Christ was born in December. The Romans again named the last month of the year by number, specifically “decem”, ten.

Seasons

From school lessons we know that the year consists of four seasons - seasons: winter, spring, summer, autumn.

In Russian	In English	Transcription
Winter	Winter	[ˈwɪntər]
Spring	Spring	[ˈsprɪŋ]
Summer	Summer	[ˈsʌmə]
Autumn	Autumn (Fall)	[ˈɔːtəm] /

Spelling months in English, their use with prepositions

The first information important to remember is: The month in English is always written with a capital letter and is not placed in front of it..

September is the least favorite month for me: I always have vocation in August and have to begin working in September.
September is my least favorite month: I always have a vacation in August, and in September I have to start work.

If the month is mentioned in speech as an adverbial of time, then the preposition in is used.

If it is possible, I would like to have vocation in August: I am planning to go to Anapa, and the weather in August there is the best.
If possible, I would like to get a vacation in August: I am planning to go to Anapa, and the weather there is the best in August.

However, if and is called together with the month, then the preposition on (hereinafter referred to as the ordinal number) is placed before the number, and the preposition of is placed before the month.

My nephew Tim was born on the second of December.
My nephew Tim was born on the second of December.

In combination with the words every (each), last (last), each (each), this (this) prepositions are not used.

Last January, I remember very well, the weather was cloudy and muddy.
Last January, I remember very well, the weather was cloudy and slushy.

This April we did not have days-off at all: we had a very busy schedule.
This April we had no days off at all: we had a very busy schedule.

Writing and pronouncing dates with months

Abbreviations

Abbreviating the names of months in English in writing (if necessary) is done as follows:

May, June, July never abbreviated, always written as a whole word;

September reduced to four letters, looks like the short version – Sept. (dot required);

the remaining months are shortened to three letters and must be followed by a period. For example, Jan.- this is the short version of January.

How to quickly learn the names of the months

The simplest and most effective way is poetry, songs and associations.

For example, here is a short children's song about the months of the year - a great way to memorize words for both children and adults.

And after reading this poem, you will certainly not forget the names of the months in English.

January brings the snow, (January brings snow)
Makes our feet and fingers glow. (Feet and fingers burn from the cold)
February snows again
And sometimes it brings us rain. (And sometimes it rains)
March brings sunny days and winds (March gives sunny days and wind)
So we know that spring begins. (So we know that spring has begun.)
April brings the primrose sweet, (April brings sweet primroses,)
We see daisies at our feet. (We see daisies under our feet)
May brings flowers, joy and grass (May brings flowers, joy and herbs)
And the holidays for us. (And holidays for us.)
June brings tulips, lilies, roses. (June brings tulips, lilies, roses.)
Fills the children`s hands with poses. (Fills children's hands with bouquets.)
Hot July brings apples and cherries (Hot July gives apples and cherries)
And a lot of other berries. (And many other berries.)
August brings us golden corn, (August brings golden grains,)
Then the harvest home is borne. (Fills the bins with harvest.)
Warm September brings us school, (Warm September we go to school)
Days are shorter, nights are cool. (The days are shorter, the nights are colder.)
Fresh October brings much fruit (Fresh October brings a lot of fruit)
Then to gather them is good. (Which are so fun to collect.)
Red November brings us joy, (Red November brings us joy,)
Fun for every girl and boy. (Entertainment for every girl and boy)
Cold December brings us skating, (We go skating in Cold December)
For the New Year we are waiting. (And we are waiting for the New Year.)

P.S. You might be interested in reading about each month of the year.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

The names of the seasons and months are common vocabulary, so learning their names is very important for language learners.

English name	English transcription	Russian transcription	Translation
winter	[‘wɪntə]	[vinte]	winter
spring		[sprin]	spring
summer	[‘sʌmə]	[same]	summer
autumn	[‘ɔːtəm]	[autumn]	autumn (In Great Britain)
fall		[foul]	autumn (in the USA)

Etymology of month names

Etymology- a science that studies the origin of words, reconstructing the vocabulary of the most ancient period.

Word month associated with *mænon - Moon, month.
The names of the months in English originate from the Julian calendar. Initially, the ancient Roman calendar had 10 months. The first month of the year was March.

Julian calendar- a calendar developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes. The calendar is named after Julius Caesar, by whose decree it was introduced into the Roman Empire from January 1, 45 BC. e. The year according to the Julian calendar begins on January 1, since it was on this day from 153 BC. e. The consuls elected by the comitia took office. In 46 BC. Julius Caesar introduced the counting of the year from January 1 and changed the number of days in some months. Thus, after the introduction of the Julian calendar, the average length of the year became 365.25 days: usually a year lasted 365 days, once every four years - 366 days.
In the Roman calendar, four months of the year (March, May, July and October) consisted of 31 days, the remaining months had 30 days. That is, there were 304 days in a year. In the 7th century BC, the Romans made a reform and added an eleventh and twelfth month: January, (from Latin Jānuārius) - in honor of the ancient Roman god of doors, roads and beginnings Janus, who was depicted with two faces, and February(from Latin Februārius mēnsis - month of atonement), the name of which comes from the Roman festival of purification from sins februa, which was celebrated on February 15.

March (March) named after the ancient Roman god of war, Mars.
April- the name of the month comes from the Latin word aperire, which means to open, possibly because the buds open in April. According to another version, the name of the month comes from the Latin word Aprilis, which comes from the Greek word Aphro, which is a contraction of the name Aphrodite. That is, April is named after the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.
May– received its name in honor of the Roman goddess of spring and earth, Maya.

June– the month is named after the goddess Juno, who is the goddess of marriage. To this day, some people believe and choose to get married in June.
July named after the ancient Roman commander Julius Caesar, who was born this month. Initially, July was called quintilis (from the Latin fifth), since it was the fifth in a row.
August (August) originally called Sextilis (sixth), and then renamed in honor of the ancient Roman emperor Octavian Augustus.

The names of the following months come from Latin numerals:

September - from Latin septem (seven).
October — (October) has the root octo (eight).
November (november)- novem (nine).
December- decem (ten), respectively. The suffix -ber in these names is an adjective suffix, therefore literally the months are translated as the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth.

Names of the months in modern English

The names of the months are common vocabulary, which should not cause much difficulty in memorizing due to the partial similarity in the names of the months in English and Russian.

Name of the month in English	English transcription	Russian transcription	Translation
January	[‘dʒænju(ə)ri]	[January]	January
February	[‘febru(ə)ri]	[fabruary]	February
March		[mach]	March
April	[‘eipr(ə)l]	[April]	April
May		[May]	May
June		[jun]	June
July		[julay]	July
August	[ɔ:’gΛst]	[August]	September
September		[septembe]	September
October	[ɔk’təubə]	[octobe]	October
November		[novembre]	november
December		[disembe]

Using prepositions with months

The following prepositions are used with the names of months in English: IN And ON.

in January- in January (if we are talking only about the name of the month)
on the first of January- the first of January (if we are talking about a date)
last January- last January (!! note the absence)
next January- next January (!! note the lack of preposition in English)
this February- in February (of this year, about the upcoming February) (!! note the absence of a preposition in English)
in July last year- last July
by next month- by next month.

Abbreviated month names

In the abbreviated version of the name of the months, only the first three letters of the name remain:

January - January - Jan.
February - February - Feb.
March - March - Mar.
April – April – Apr.
May - May - May - not abbreviated
June - June - June - not abbreviated
July - July - July - not abbreviated
August - August - Aug.
September - September - Sept., Sep.
October - October - Oct.
November - November - Nov.
December – December – Dec.

Hello, dear readers! Have you ever thought about how often you mention the seasons and talk about the weather? Whether it's communicating with colleagues, emails, talking on the phone - we do all this almost every day. We discuss what the weather is like outside today, talk about our favorite time of year, or say what time of year is our birthday. Seasons
What if you are learning English or communicating on social networks with a British or American friend? What if at school or university you were asked to write an English essay on the topic “Seasons”? As you may have guessed, today we will talk about how to call the seasons in English, or as English speakers call them - seasons.
How to name months, days of the week and seasons in English is one of the most important topics that anyone who has started learning English must know. These are the basics that will help you communicate with native speakers when writing letters, messages, or when traveling abroad. In addition, knowing the seasons of the year in English is useful for general development.
First, let's list the seasons, write their pronunciation and translation:
winter ["wɪntə] - winter

spring - spring

summer ["sʌmə] - summer

autumn ["ɔːtəm] (in the UK) or fall in the USA - autumn

As you'll notice, Americans mean "autumn" differently than the British. They prefer to call this season "fall". Not to be confused with the action verb "to fall".

How to talk about seasons in English?

If you need to write an essay or simply talk about the seasons in English, then you should do it as follows:
First you need to list all the seasons, something like this: a year has four seasons - winter, spring, summer, autumn. Then you can tell what months are in each season. And after that, move on to a description of each season: weather phenomena, events in nature or in people’s lives.

These translation exercises will help you write essays and remember the topic.
Grammar

What grammar rules in English do you need to remember in order to correctly use the seasons in speech and writing?
You already know that in America they use “in the fall” instead of “in autumn”

The preposition “in” is used to denote seasons: in summer

Only in the combination “in the fall” is the article used; in all other cases it is not used with the seasons

The article is used only when it is implied or there is a clarifying definition: in the winter of 1953

In combinations of the nouns “winter, spring, summer, autumn” with the words “That, all, every, any, one, each, next, last, this” neither an article nor a preposition is used: this spring

And finally, only two seasons are used in the possessive case - autumn and spring: This autumn’s festival... but The festival this winter...

Just 6 simple rules.
It's raining cats and dogs

This popular expression characterizing heavy autumn rain has been familiar to us since childhood. English also has such phraseological units. So they call a downpour with a cold strong wind the phrase “it is raining cats and dogs,” which translated means “rain of cats and dogs.” Why cats and dogs?
This English idiom comes from the past. People used to believe that witches turned into cats and, foreshadowing bad weather, flew under the clouds on brooms. And dogs, according to legend, were servants of Odin, the god of thunder, and personified the wind. Meeting together under the clouds, cats and dogs fell down with the rain and wind.

Another assumption was made by the famous writer Jonathan Swift, who used this expression in one of his works. Where it was described that the drainage system in cities of the 17th and 18th centuries could not withstand heavy rain, and the entire contents of the sewer spilled onto the street, including the corpses of cats, dogs and rats.

Today we will devote our attention to analyzing the question of how the seasons are written in English. We will start in the fall, because... It was during this period that the idea came to write this article and present it to your attention.

Autumn

Autumn– this is how the name of autumn is written in English. Approximate pronunciation in Russian is [otem] (emphasis on “o”).

Here are some phrases and words with translation on the theme of autumn.

Autumn comes in September. Autumn comes in September.
It is rain. It's raining.
Towards the begin of November the weather gets colder and colder. By the beginning of November the weather becomes colder and colder.
Birds fly away to warm countries. Birds fly to warm countries.

Months of autumn:
September - September.
October - October.
November - November.

Winter

Winter- winter in English. Pronounced roughly like [uinteh] (emphasis on the “i”).

What can you say about winter in English?

In Russia winter is usually a cold season. Winter in Russia is usually a cold season.
(I think no one will dispute this fact.)
It often snows. It's snowing often.
The rivers and the lakes are frozen. Rivers and lakes freeze.
The days are short in winter. The days are short in winter.
Winter holidays. The winter vacation.

Winter months:
December - December.
January - January.
February - February.

Spring

Spring– spring in English. Approximate pronunciation in Russian letters: [spring].

Spring will be soon. It will be spring soon.
The days become longer in spring. In spring the days become longer.
The sun shines more brightly. The sun is shining brighter.

Spring months:
March - March.
April - April.
May - May.

The most pleasant time of the year for many.

Summer– this is the spelling of the word “summer” in English. It is pronounced in Russian approximately this way: [same] (emphasis on the first letter “a”).

The sky is often blue and cloudless. The sky is often blue and cloudless.
Summer is my favorite season. Summer is my favorite season.

Let's list summer months:
June - June.
July - July.
August - August.

Below you can watch a short video for children with a song about the seasons in English: