October Meaning
/ɒkˈtəʊ.bə/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe tenth month of the year.
nameThe tenth month of the Gregorian calendar, following September and preceding November.
Sentence Examples
The athletic meet took place on October 15.
The stock market crash of October 1987 in New York is still vividly remembered.
October is Tom's favorite month, and perhaps mine, too.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every year, the month of ____ is known for Halloween celebrations and falling leaves.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The annual harvest festival takes place every ____ in the small farming village near the river.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French octobre, from Latin Octōber (“eighth month”), from Latin octō (“eight”), from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw (“twice four”); + Latin -ber, from -bris, an adjectival suffix; October was the eighth month in the Roman calendar.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"By October it was advancing steadily toward Pangwa, encountering meager resistance."
— 2025 July 18, Timothy McLaughlin, “A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border. The Kachin Independence Organization fought for decades in obscurity. Now it's supplying essential minerals to manufacturers around the world”, in Bloomberg Businessweek, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2025:
"The other one [book] I just read is October Suite by Maxine Clair (Random House, $23.95). It's about a woman named October. She's a young black schoolteacher in the 1950s ..."
— 2002 January, Cincinnati Magazine, volume 35, number 4, page 138:
"From somewhere in the distance came the screaming whine of an emergency vehicle's siren. Lance flipped open his phone. “Get me the address of a woman named October Guinness . . . That's right, October,” he said again, [...]"
— 2009, C.S. Graham, The Archangel Project, →ISBN, page 31:
"Sir, if I vvas vvorthy to adviſe you, I vvou'd have a Bottle of good October by me. Shall I ſet a Cup of old Stingo at your Elbovv?"
— 1716 March 21 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], The Drummer; or, The Haunted House. A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1716 (indicated as 1715), →OCLC, Act V, page 46:
"[T]he gate of a large chateau, of a most noble and venerable appearance […] induced them to alight and view the apartments, contrary to their first intention of drinking a glass of his October at the door."
— 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every year, the month of ____ is known for Halloween celebrations and falling leaves.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The annual harvest festival takes place every ____ in the small farming village near the river.