Where does “December” come from?

December comes from Middle English december, from Old French decembre, from Latin december, derived from Latin decem meaning "ten," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European déḱm̥.

December (English): The twelfth and last month of the Gregorian calendar, following November and preceding the January of the following year, containing the southern solstice

Definitions

  1. The twelfth and last month of the Gregorian calendar, following November and preceding the January of the following year, containing the southern solstice

Ancestry of “December”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishDecember—
2Old FrenchdecembreDecember
3Latindecemberof December; December
4Latindecemten; 10
5Latin-nus-an
6Proto-Italic-nosCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems
7Proto-Indo-European-nósCreates verbal adjectives from roots

Words derived from “December”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -nós →Every word from Latin -nus →Every word from Latin decem →