February
nounThe second month of the year, following January and preceding March.
How to spell February
8 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce February
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does February mean?
- nounThe second month of the year, following January and preceding March.
February in a sentence
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February is the shortest month.
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In February we celebrated her birthday.
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February has 28 days, except in leap years.
Where does February come from?
Language of origin: Latin
February comes from the Latin Februarius mensis, meaning 'the month of purification'. It was named after Februa, a Roman cleansing and purification festival held in mid-month, and that festival took its name from februum, a word meaning 'a means of purification' or 'expiatory offering'. The word travelled into English through Old French feverier, but scholars later reshaped the spelling to match the Latin original, which is why we write the difficult middle cluster as -bru- rather than the way most people say it. The very first 'r', the one in Feb-RU-ary, is the letter adults drop most often, because in ordinary speech it dissimilates into 'Feb-yoo-ary'. Keeping the Latin root Februa in mind, with its 'br', is the simplest way to remember that the first 'r' is really there.
How the word is built
- Februa (Roman purification festival)
- -ary (month-name suffix, via -arius 'pertaining to')
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