Where does “January” come from?
January derives from Latin ianuarius, named after Janus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁ey- meaning to go or proceed.
January (English): The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February
Definitions
- The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February
Ancestry of “January”, step by step
January traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English Ieneuer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | Ieneuer | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | genever | — |
| 3 | Latin | iānuārius | of January |
| 4 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |
via Middle English Januarie
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | Januarie | — |