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Calendar Words |
| Basic Words | Etymology |
| Calendar | Derived from the Latin calendarium,
meaning interest register, or account book, itself a derivation
from calendae (or kalendae),
the first day of the Roman month, the day on which future market
days, feasts, and other occasions were proclaimed.
Following are the months of the year and the days of the week. |
| Year | Old English ge(a)r, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch jaar and German Jahr, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek hora 'season'. |
| Month | Old English monath, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch maand and German Monat, also to moon. |
| Week | Old English wice, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch week and German Woche, from a base probably meaning 'sequence, series'. |
| Day | Old English dg, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dag and German Tag. |
| Months | Etymology |
| January | Old English, from Latin Januarius (mensis) '(month) of Janus', the Roman god who presided over doors and beginnings. |
| February | Middle English feverer, from Old French feverier, based on Latin februarius, from februa, the name of a purification feast held in this month. The spelling change in the 15th cent. was due to association with the Latin word. |
| March | Middle English: from an Old French dialect variant of marz, from Latin Martius (mensis) '(month) of Mars' the god of war. This was the first month of the Roman year. |
| April | Old English, from Latin Aprilis which is thought to be derived from the Latin verb aperire, "to open," as buds do in April. |
| May | late Old English, from Old French mai, from Latin Maius (mensis) '(month) of the goddess Maia'. |
| June | Middle English: from Old French juin, from Latin Junius (mensis) '(month) of June', variant of Junonius 'sacred to Juno'. |
| July | Middle English: from Latin Julius (mensis) '(month) of July', named after Julius Caesar. |
| August | Old English, from Latin Augustus 'consecrated, venerable'; named after Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor. |
| September | late Old English, from Latin, from septem 'seven' (being originally the seventh month of the Roman year). |
| October | late Old English, from Latin, from octo 'eight' (being originally the eighth month of the Roman year). |
| November | Old English, from Latin, from novem 'nine' (being originally the ninth month of the Roman year). |
| December | Middle English: from Latin, from decem 'ten' (being originally the tenth month of the Roman year). |
| Weekdays | Etymology |
| Monday | Moon - named by Roman Emperor Constantine |
| Tuesday | Tiu/Tiw - Anglo-Saxon name for Tyr the Norse god of war. In Roman times was named for Mars. |
| Wednesday | Woden - Anglo-Saxon name for Odin the Norse supreme deity. In Roman times was named for Mercury. |
| Thursday | Thor - Norse god of thunder. In Roman times was named for Jupiter. |
| Friday | Frigg - the wife of Odin representing love and beauty, in Norse mythology. In Roman times was named for Venus. |
| Saturday | Saturn named by Roman Emperor Constantine |
| Sunday | Sun - named by Roman Emperor Constantine, who being a Christian decreed that it should be a day of rest and worship. |