Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

January

 
Dictionary: Jan·u·ar·y   (jăn'yū-ĕr'ē) pronunciation
 
n., pl. -ies. (Abbr. Jan.)

The first month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

[Middle English Januarie, Jenever, from Old North French Jenever, from Latin Iānuārius (mēnsis), (month) of Janus, from Iānus, Janus.]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a word or phrase...
All Community Q&A Reference topics
 
WordNet: January
Top
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice
  Synonym: Jan


 
Wikipedia: January
Top
January · February · March · April · May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December
<< January >>
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
2009

January En-us-January.ogg (pronunciation) is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere.

Contents

History

January is named after Janus (Ianuarius), the god of the doorway; the name has its beginnings in Roman mythology, coming from the Latin word for door (ianua) - January is the door to the year. Traditionally, the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months, totalling 304 days, winter being considered a monthless period. Around 713 BC, the semi-mythical successor of Romulus, King Numa Pompilius, is supposed to have added the months of January and February, allowing the calendar to equal a standard lunar year (355 days). Although March was originally the first month in the old Roman Calendar, January became the first month of the calendar year either under Numa or under the Decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers differ). In contrast, years in dates were identified by naming two consuls, who entered office on May 1 and March 15 before 153 BC when they began to enter office on January 1.

Various Christian feast dates were used for the New Year in Europe during the Middle Ages, including March 25 and December 25. However, medieval calendars were still displayed in the Roman fashion of twelve columns from January to December. Beginning in the sixteenth century, European countries began officially making January 1 the start of the New Year once again — sometimes called Circumcision Style because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the eighth day from December 25.

Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month) and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). In Finnish, the month is called tammikuu, meaning month of the oak, but the original meaning was the month of the heart of winter, as tammi has initially meant axis or core. This month in Czech is called leden, meaning ice month, while in Ukrainian it is січень meaning cutting or slicing perhaps refering to the wind.

Holidays in January

January, painting by Leandro Bassano

January symbols

The camellia, Japan's floral emblem of January


References

  1. ^ January Birth Flower



 
Translations: January
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - januar

Nederlands (Dutch)
januari

Français (French)
n. - janvier

Deutsch (German)
n. - Januar

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - Ιανουάριος

Italiano (Italian)
gennaio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - janeiro (m)

Русский (Russian)
январь

Español (Spanish)
n. - enero

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - januari

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
一月

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 一月

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 1월

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 1月

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كانون الثاني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ינואר‬


 
Shopping: January
Top
 
 
Learn More
Jan. (abbreviation)
as of
Super Bowl (History)

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "January" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

Mentioned in