Definition
nounThe first month of the year.
nameThe first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.
Sentence Examples
The first month of the year is January.
January is the first month of the year.
The winter semester always begins in early january.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der.
Latin iānus
Latin Iānus
Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
Proto-Italic *-āzijos
Latin -ārius
Latin Iānuāriusder.
Anglo-Norman geneverbor.
Middle English Janevere
Middle English Januarie
English January
From Middle English Januarie, januari, re-latinised forms of Middle English Janevere, Ieneuer, from Anglo-Norman genever, from Latin Iānuārius (“(month) of Janus”), a compound of Iānus ("Janus") + -ārius (adjectival suffix), with the first element perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeh₂- (“to go”). Doublet of Gennaro.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I get sick a lot in the winter, so I spent this past January as I’ve spent many Januaries before it — in bed with a standard-issue flu."
— 2020 June 30, Sophie Atkinson, “Andy Warhol’s Secrets for Surviving Isolation”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2020:
"The Louisville Metro Police Department terminated Detective Myles Cosgrove in January for use of deadly force for firing 16 rounds into Taylor’s home and failing to activate his body camera, according to a copy of his termination letter."
— 2021 December 13, Amir Vera, “Louisville detective who fatally shot Breonna Taylor is appealing his termination from the police department”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2022:
"“Hi, January!” Lynn calls. “Happy birthday!”"
— 2011, Michael Schofield, January First: