你知道英文中每个月份的名称有何来历？

1、你知道英文中每个月份的名称有何来历？摘要随着新一年的开始，可能你最近又买了一本新日记本或日历本，也许你会想：“日历上这些关于月份的词是从何而来的呢？”借此机会，我们要给你的新年计划再加上一项：了解一年十二个月名称的来历。转播到腾讯微博As the new year starts you might have recently bought a new diary or calendar and thought Where do these words come from? at least thats what I did. There is also, of course, also the

2、 chance that you have been merrily scheduling in gym appointments and book clubs and all sorts of other details relating to New Years resolutions (have you kept yours so far?) but well take the opportunity to add a resolution to your list: learn where we got the names for all the months of the year.

3、 Spoilers: its a mixture of gods, rulers, and numbers.随着新的一年的开始，可能你最近又买了一本新的日记本或日历本，也许你会想：“日历上这些关于月份的词是从何而来的呢？”至少我有这样的疑问。当然，也有可能你早已兴致勃勃地安排好了你的新年计划：去健身房锻炼，加入读书俱乐部以及其它各类活动（这些活动你现在还有坚持下去吗？）但借此机会，我们要给你的新年计划再加上一项：了解一年十二个月名称的来历。剧透一下：它们与神、统治者和数字都有关系。January 一月转播到腾讯微博January is named after the Roman god Jan

4、us, who presided over doors and beginnings appropriately enough, for the beginning of the year (though this is, as you will discover, not as straightforward as it seems). Indeed, Janus was usually depicted with two faces looking backwards and forwards, as is often characteristic of a new year; this

5、also gave rise to the term Janus word for words that have two opposite meanings.January是以罗马神话中双面神杰纳斯（Janus）的名字命名的。他负责司守门户以及万物的始末作为一年的开始，他很适合（尽管你会发现，其实并没有那么直观）。事实上，杰纳斯通常以双面孔示人，一面回顾过去，一面注视未来，而这经常被视为新的一年的特征；这也使得它的引申词组“Janus word”（双面词）表示兼有两种相反含义的词。February 二月转播到腾讯微博February is ultimately based on Latin

6、februarius, from februa. In case thats not helped things become clearer, februa was the name of a purification feast held on the 15th of this month. February is a divisive issue in modern pronunciation, with both Feb-yoo-ary and Feb-roo-ary being commonly heard.February由拉丁语“februa”的衍生词“februarius”演变

7、而来。可能这样说并没有解释得很清楚，这里再补充一下：“februa”是这个月十五号举行的一场涤罪盛宴的名称。在现代英语(精品课)中，人们对“February”的发音产生了分歧，最常听到的有两种，一种是“Feb-yoo-ary”，还有一种是“Feb-roo-ary”。March 三月转播到腾讯微博Which god gets a planet and a month named after him? Youve guessed it: Mars. Why him? As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, In ancient Rome several fe

8、stivals of Mars took place in March, presumably in preparation for the campaigning season, since Mars was a god of war.有哪位神的名字既是一个星球的名字，又是一个月份的名字呢？你们已经猜到了：马尔斯（Mars）。为什么是他？牛津英语词典上记载：“在古罗马时期，一些有关于马尔斯的节日都在三月举行，想必是为了战争时期做准备，因为马尔斯是一位战神。”April 四月转播到腾讯微博We know that the English word April comes from the La

9、tin Aprillis, the fourth month of the ancient Roman calendar, but things are less clear after that. In Old English, April was also sometimes called Eastermonab, Easter month.我们知道英文词汇“April”来源于拉丁语“Aprillis”，是古罗马日历的第四个月，但除此之外，我们就不太清楚了。在古英语中，四月有时也被称为“Eastermonth”，即“复活月”。May 五月转播到腾讯微博The month is connec

10、ted with the goddess Maia. Perhaps less well known now than the other deities with months named after them, Maia (in Greek mythology) was daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes. She was considered a nurturer and an earth goddess, which may explain the connection with this springtime month. Although

11、may is a common modal verb, the month and the word are unrelated.这个月与玛雅女神（the goddess Maia）有关。与其他神相比，也许玛雅并没有那么为人们所熟知，在希腊神话中，她是阿特拉（Atlas）之女，同时也是赫尔墨斯（Hermes）之母。她被誉为养育者和大地女神，这或许可以解释为什么它是属于春季的月份。尽管“may”经常被用作情态动词，但它与五月并没有关系。June 六月转播到腾讯微博Having conceded one month to a Greek deity, were now back with the

12、Romans: June is named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and goddess of marriage and childbirth. June was also once sometimes known as midsummer month.前面已经有一个月是以希腊女神命名的了，现在我们再次回到罗马的神灵：六月是以古罗马女神朱诺（Juno）命名的。她是主神朱庇特（Jupiter）的妻子，是婚姻与分娩之神。六月也曾一度被认为是仲夏月。July 七月转播到腾讯微博The first month in

13、the calendar named after a real person, July was named in honour of Julius Caesar after his death in 44 BC, July being the month of his birth. Before it was renamed, the month was known as Quintilis (borrowed into English as Quintile), which means fifth. If youve been counting, youll know that July

14、isnt the fifth month: well come on to that when we reach September and October.July是日历中第一个以真实的人物命名的月份，七月的命名是为了纪念尤里乌斯 凯撒（Julius Caesar）。公元前44年，凯撒大帝去世，七月是他出生的月份。在更名之前，这个月叫做“Quintilis”（英语则为“Quintile”），意为“第五”。如果你数过了的话，你会发现七月并不是第五个月：这一点在说到九月和十月的时候我们会做出解释。August 八月转播到腾讯微博Following suit, in 8 BC, the month

15、 Sextilis (sixth) was renamed after Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who had died six years earlier. Augustus himself was given this title when he became emperor, having previously been known as Octavian. It came from the Latin augustus meaning consecrated, venerable which gave rise to the English

16、 adjective august, respected and impressive.同样地，在公元前8年，“Sextilis” (sixth)这个月以古罗马第一位帝王奥古斯都（Augustus）来命名，他本人早于六年前去世。奥古斯都是他在成为帝王之时为自己改的名字，在这之前，他叫奥克塔维安（Octavian）。这个词来源于拉丁语“augustus”，意为“神圣的、值得尊敬的”，由此，august在做形容词时有“值得尊敬的”的意思。September 九月转播到腾讯微博September follows on from Quinitlis and Sextilis, in that it c

17、omes from the Latin septem, seven. As with those (and the rest of the calendar), the numbering is a bit off now: September was originally the seventh month in an ancient Roman ten-month calendar, which started with March.“September”排在“Quinitlis”和“Sextilis”之后，是因为它来源于拉丁语“septem”，在这里是指第七个月。到这里，这些月份（以及日

18、历中其它月份）的排序方式就有点混乱了：在古罗马的十月制日历中，September是第七个月份，那个日历是从March开始的。October 十月转播到腾讯微博More of the same: octo is the Latin for eight, for that ten month calendar. Two months were added to the end of the calendar year around 713 BC, and the beginning of the year was moved to 1 January in 153 BC.同理，“octo”在拉丁语

19、中是八的意思，因此在十月历中，它是指第八个月。在公元前713年左右，日历年的年底又加了两个月，公元前153年将一月一日作为一年的开始。November 十一月转播到腾讯微博The pattern continues: November comes from novem, nine. November is also, were afraid, used with allusion to Novembers position at the end of the year, and to the characteristic greyness, gloominess, etc., associated with it in the northern hemisphere. The earliest known example of this allusive use comes from J