Month

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /mÊŒnθ/, mɐn̪θ, enPR: mÅ­nth
• IPA: /mÊŒnθ/, mÊŒn̪θ, enPR: mÅ­nth
• Rhymes: -ÊŒnθ

Alternative forms

• moneth dialectal

Origin

From Middle English month, moneth, from Old English mōnað ("month"), from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs ("month"), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s ("moon, month"), probably from Proto-Indo-European *mê- ("to measure"), referring to the moon's phases as the measure of time, equivalent to moon + -th. Cognate with Scots moneth ("month"); North Frisian muunt ("month"); Saterland Frisian Mound ("month"), Dutch maand ("month"); German Low German Maand, Monat ("month"); German Monat ("month"); Danish måned ("month"); Swedish månad ("month"); Icelandic mánuði ("month"); Latin mēnsis ("month"); Ancient Greek μήν; Armenian ամիս; Old Irish mí; Old Church Slavonic мѣсѧць. See also moon.

Full definition of month

Noun

1. A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon. In the Gregorian calendar there are twelve months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
   July is my favourite month.
• 2013-08-03, Boundary problems, Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.
2. A period of 30 days, 31 days, or some alternation thereof.
   We went on holiday for two months.
• 1959, Georgette Heyer, The Unknown Ajax Chapter 1, Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.
• 2011, September 29, Jon Smith, Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers, With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.
3. (obsolete, in the plural) A woman's period; menstrual discharge.
• 1621, Robert Burton, ''The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I, New York 2001, p. 234:Sckenkius hath two other instances of two melancholy and mad women, so caused from the suppression of their months.

Related terms

• monthly
• month of Sundays
• time of the month