英文的月份名稱(chēng)源自古羅馬曆法，有些按數字順序排列，有些用神或皇帝命名 。比如，“十月”October的拉丁語詞根“octo”意思其實是“八”，八爪章魚octopus也是這個詞根。那爲何月份跟實際數字會有錯位呢？聽韋氏詞典編(biān)輯給你詳解~
January 一月
January is named after the Roman god Janus, who presided over doors and beginnings – appropriately enough, for the beginning of the year (though this is, as you will discover, not as straightforward as it seems). Indeed, Janus was usually depicted with two faces looking backwards and forwards, as is often characteristic of a new year; this also gave rise to the term Janus word for words that have two opposite meanings.
January是以羅馬神話中雙面神傑納斯（Janus）的名字命名的。他負責司守門戶以及萬物的始末——作爲一年的開始，他很适合（盡管你會發現，其實並(bìng)沒有那麽直觀）。事實上，傑納斯通常以雙面孔示人，一面回顧過去，一面注視未來，而這經常被視爲新的一年的特征；這也使得它的引申詞(cí)組“Janus word”（雙面詞(cí)）表示兼有兩種相反含義的詞(cí) 。
February 二月
February is ultimately based on Latin februarius, from februa. In case that’s not helped things become clearer, februa was the name of a purification feast held on the 15th of this month. February is a divisive issue in modern pronunciation, with both Feb-yoo-ary and Feb-roo-ary being commonly heard.
February由拉丁語“februa”的衍生詞“februarius”演變而來。可能這樣說並(bìng)沒有解釋得很清楚，這裏再補充一下：“februa”是這個月十五号舉行的一場滌罪盛宴的名稱。在現代英語中，人們對“February”的發音産生瞭(le)分歧，最常聽到的有兩種，一種是“Feb-yoo-ary”，還有一種是“Feb-roo-ary”。
March 三月
Which god gets a planet and a month named after him? You’ve guessed it: Mars. Why him? As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, ‘In ancient Rome several festivals of Mars took place in March, presumably in preparation for the campaigning season, since Mars was a god of war.’
有哪位神的名字既是一個星球的名字，又是一個月份的名字呢？你們已經猜到瞭(le)：馬爾斯（Mars）。爲什麽是他？《牛津英語詞典》上記載 ：“在古羅馬時期 ，一些有關於(yú)馬爾斯的節日都在三月舉行 ，想必是爲瞭(le)戰争時期做準備，因爲馬爾斯是一位戰神。”
April 四月
We know that the English word April comes from the Latin Aprillis, the fourth month of the ancient Roman calendar, but things are less clear after that. In Old English, April was also sometimes called Eastermonab, ‘Easter month’.
我們知道英文詞彙“April”來源於(yú)拉丁語“Aprillis”，是古羅馬日曆的第四個月，但除此之外 ，我們就不太清楚瞭(le)。在古英語中，四月有時也被稱爲“Eastermonth”，即“複活月”。
May 五月
The month is connected with the goddess Maia. Perhaps less well known now than the other deities with months named after them, Maia (in Greek mythology) was daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes. She was considered a nurturer and an earth goddess, which may explain the connection with this springtime month. Although may is a common modal verb, the month and the word are unrelated.
這個月與瑪雅女神（the goddess Maia）有關。與其他神相比 ，也許瑪雅並(bìng)沒有那麽爲人們所熟知，在希臘神話中，她是阿特拉（Atlas）之女 ，同時也是赫爾墨斯（Hermes）之母。她被譽爲養育者和大地女神，這或許可以解釋爲什麽它是屬於(yú)春季的月份。盡管“may”經常被用作情态動詞，但它與五月並(bìng)沒有關系。
June 六月
Having conceded one month to a Greek deity, we’re now back with the Romans: June is named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and goddess of marriage and childbirth. June was also once sometimes known as midsummer month.
前面已經有一個(gè)月是以希臘女神命名的瞭(le)，現在我們再次回到羅馬的神靈：六月是以古羅馬女神朱諾（Juno）命名的。她是主神朱庇特（Jupiter）的妻子，是婚姻與分娩之神。六月也曾一度被認爲是仲夏月。
July 七月
The first month in the calendar named after a real person, July was named in honour of Julius Caesar after his death in 44 BC, July being the month of his birth. Before it was renamed, the month was known as Quintilis (borrowed into English as Quintile), which means ‘fifth’. If you’ve been counting, you’ll know that July isn’t the fifth month: we’ll come on to that when we reach September and October.
July是日曆中第一個以真實的人物命名的月份，七月的命名是爲瞭(le)紀念尤裏烏斯•凱撒（Julius Caesar）。公元前44年 ，凱撒大帝去世，七月是他出生的月份。在更名之前，這個月叫做“Quintilis”（英語則爲“Quintile”），意爲“第五”。如果你數過瞭(le)的話，你會發現七月並(bìng)不是第五個月 ：這一點在說到九月和十月的時候我們會做出解釋。
August 八月
Following suit, in 8 BC, the month Sextilis (‘sixth’) was renamed after Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who had died six years earlier. Augustus himself was given this title when he became emperor, having previously been known as Octavian. It came from the Latin augustus meaning ‘consecrated, venerable’ which gave rise to the English adjective august, ‘respected and impressive’.
同樣地，在公元前8年，“Sextilis” (‘sixth’)這個月以古羅馬第一位帝王奧(ào)古斯都（Augustus）來命名，他本人早於(yú)六年前去世。奧(ào)古斯都是他在成爲帝王之時爲自己改的名字，在這之前，他叫奧(ào)克塔維安（Octavian）。這個詞來源於(yú)拉丁語“augustus”，意爲“神聖的、值得尊敬的”，由此，august在做形容詞時有“值得尊敬的”的意思。
September 九月
September follows on from Quinitlis and Sextilis, in that it comes from the Latin septem, ‘seven’. As with those (and the rest of the calendar), the numbering is a bit off now: September was originally the seventh month in an ancient Roman ten-month calendar, which started with March.
“September”排在“Quinitlis”和“Sextilis”之後，是因爲它來源於(yú)拉丁語“septem”，在這裏是指第七個月。到這裏，這些月份（以及日曆中其它月份）的排序方式就有點混亂瞭(le)：在古羅馬的十月制日曆中，September是第七個月份，那個日曆是從March開始的。
October 十月
More of the same: octo is the Latin for ‘eight’, for that ten month calendar. Two months were added to the end of the calendar year around 713 BC, and the beginning of the year was moved to 1 January in 153 BC.
同理，“octo”在拉丁語中是八的意思，因此在十月曆中，它是指第八個(gè)月。在公元前713年左右，日曆年的年底又加瞭(le)兩個(gè)月，公元前153年将一月一日作爲一年的開始。
November 十一月
The pattern continues: November comes from novem, ‘nine’. November is also, we’re afraid, used ‘with allusion to November’s position at the end of the year, and to the characteristic greyness, gloominess, etc., associated with it in the northern hemisphere’. The earliest known example of this allusive use comes from Jane Austen’s posthumously published novel Persuasion.
還是相同的規律：“November”來源於(yú)拉丁語“novem”，即第九個月。我們認爲“Novembe”同樣也“暗指其處於(yú)年末，用以表示灰暗 、陰郁等，與北半球相關”。這種暗指性的用法最早見於(yú)簡-奧(ào)斯汀（Jane Austen）去世後出版的《勸導》（Persuasion）一書中。
December 十二月
And we finish off the year with December, from decem, ‘ten’. The month also comes with a brace of adjectives: Decemberish and Decemberly, the latter of which can also be used as an adverb. And there you have it: a whole calendar year of etymologies to see you through the whole of 2016.
我們以“December”作爲一年的終結，它來源於(yú)“decem”，這裏指第十個月。這個詞(cí)還有兩個形容詞(cí)形式 ：“Decemberish”和“Decemberly”，後者還可用作副詞(cí)。
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