month

month
\ \ [OE] In ancient times the passing of time was recorded by noting the revolutions of the moon. Consequently prehistoric Indo-European had a single word, *mēnes-, which denoted both ‘moon’ and ‘month’. The Romance languages retain it only for ‘month’: Latin mēnsis (source of English menstrual) has given French mois, Italian mese, and Spanish mes. The Germanic languages, however, have kept both, distinguishing them by different forms. In the case of ‘month’, the Germanic word was *mǣnōth, which has differentiated into German monat, Dutch maand, Swedish månad, Danish maaned, and English month.
\ \ Cf.MENSTRUAL, MOON

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • month — [ mʌnθ ] noun count *** 1. ) one of the 12 periods that a year is divided into, such as January, February, etc: CALENDAR MONTH: during the winter months the month of March Could we meet earlier in the month? this/next/last month: A man was… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • month — W1S1 [mʌnθ] n [: Old English; Origin: monath] 1.) one of the 12 named periods of time that a year is divided into this/last/next month ▪ Phil is coming home for a visit next month. ▪ She ll be thirteen this month. ▪ I hope I ll have finished the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • month — [munth] n. [ME < OE monath, akin to Ger monat, ON manuthr < Gmc * menōth < IE * mēnōt, month, moon, var. of mēn: see MOON] 1. any of the main parts (usually twelve) into which the calendar year is divided: also calendar month 2. a) the… …   English World dictionary

  • Month — (m[u^]nth), n. [OE. month, moneth, AS. m[=o]n[eth], m[=o]na[eth]; akin to m[=o]na moon, and to D. maand month, G. monat, OHG. m[=a]n[=o]d, Icel. m[=a]nu[eth]r, m[=a]na[eth]r, Goth. m[=e]n[=o][thorn]s. [root]272. See {Moon}.] One of the twelve… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Month — in Hieroglyphen Ideogramm …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • month — (n.) O.E. monað, from P.Gmc. *menoth (Cf. O.S. manoth, O.Fris. monath, M.Du. manet, Du. maand, O.H.G. manod, Ger. Monat, O.N. manaðr, Goth. menoþs month ), related to *menon moon (see MOON ( …   Etymology dictionary

  • month — ► NOUN 1) each of the twelve named periods into which a year is divided. 2) a period of time between the same dates in successive calendar months. 3) a period of 28 days or four weeks. ● a month of Sundays Cf. ↑a month of Sundays ORIGIN …   English terms dictionary

  • month — month; month·ly; …   English syllables

  • Month — (Montu), ägypt. Gott, der in Theben und in Hermonthis in Oberägypten als Stadtgott verehrt wurde. Er wird sperberköpfig, mit der Sonne und zwei langen Federn auf dem Haupte dargestellt und hält in der Hand das Sichelschwert. Wie die meisten… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Month — Month, ägypt. Kriegsgott, namentlich in der oberägypt. Stadt Hermonthis verehrt …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Month — For the Egyptian hawk god, see Monthu. A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which was first used and invented in Mesopotamia, as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept… …   Wikipedia

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