英语中十二个月份词源的来历

1、英语中十二个月份词源的来历你了解12个月份的来历吗？先小小地透露一下： 它们的来历和神、统治者以及数字有关。January 一月 January is named after the Roman god Janus, who presided over doors and 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 bac

2、kwards and forwards, as is often characteristic of a new year; this also gave rise to the term Janus word for words that have two opposite meanings. 月是以罗马看守门户的Janus命名的，他负责守门以及新一年的开端，尽管这样，你会发现它 似乎不止有一面。事实上，Janus常常以两张望向相反方向的面孔示人，这也是新的一年所具备的特点：既要回顾过去，又要展望未来。这样的形象又赋予了 “Janus”具有相反含义的特性。February 二月 Februa

3、ry is ultimatelybased on Latin februarius, from februa. In case that s not helped things become clearer, februa was the name of a purificationfeast 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.二月形成于拉丁

4、 语“februarius”中的“februa”。考虑到大家可能还没有明白它的意思，这边再补充说明一下：“februa”是2月15日举行的一个净化盛宴的名字。现代人对February的发音持有不一样的见解，主要有两种读法，第一种是Feb-yoo-ary,第二种是 Feb-roo-ary。 March 三月 Which god gets a planet and a month named after him? You ve guessed it: Mars. Why him? As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, In ancient Rome sev

5、eral festivals of Mars took place in March, presumablyin preparation for the campaigning season, since Mars was a god of war.哪位神灵拥有一个星球并有一个月份以它命名？你也许猜是“Mars”。为什么是他呢？牛津英语（精品课）词典里标注道：在古罗马，几个和火星有关的 节日都发生在三月，也许这些节日都和准备战争的活动有关，因为Mars是一位战神。April 四月 We knowthat the English word April comes from the Latin A

6、prillis, 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.我们都知道英语单词“April ”来源于拉丁语“ Aprillis ”，在古罗马的日历上，这 是第四个月，但之后的一些事情我们就不大知晓了。在古英 语里“April ”有时也被称为“ Eastermonab”，意为：“复活月”。 May 五月 The month

7、 is connected with the goddess Maia. Perhaps less well known now than the otherdeitieswithmonths 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. Al

8、though may is a common modal verb, the month and the word are unrelated. 五月和神灵 Maia （玛雅）有关。玛雅也许没有其他神灵为人 们所熟知，在希腊神话中玛雅是Atlas （阿特拉斯）之女和Hermes （爱马仕）之母。她被认为是一位养育者和一位地球 女神，这也解释了 May和春季月份的关系。may是一个情态 动词，但是月份的“ May”和情态动词的“ may”是不相关 的。 June 六月 Having conceded one month to a Greek deity, we re now back with

9、the 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.介绍了位希腊神灵，现在我们继续讲讲罗马的神灵。“June”是以古罗马神灵“Juno”命名的。朱诺是 Jupiter （丘比特）之妻，掌管着 婚姻和生育分娩的事务。六月一度被认为是仲夏月。July七月 The first month in the cal

10、endar 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 intoEnglish as Quintile）, which means fifth . If you ve beercounting, you ll know that July isn t

11、the fifth month: weon to that when we reach September and October.这是第一个以人名命名的月份，“July”的命名是为了纪念 Julius Caesar（裘里斯凯撒），他于公元前44年去世，七月正好是他由生的月份。在这个月份更名之前，它叫做“ Quintilis”，英语中 即为“Quintile”，意为“第五”。如果你会数数的话，你会发 现，“July”并不是第五个月份。关于这个问题，等我们提到“September”和October的时候再解释。August 八月 Following suit, in 8 BC, the mont

12、h Sextilis （sixth ） wasrenamed after Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who had diedsix 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

13、 adjective august, respected and impressive. 同样地，在公元前 8 世纪，Sextilis （sixth）这个月更名了，以罗马第一位帝王 Augustus（奥古斯都）命名。他于公元前8世纪前六年去世。奥古斯都在他成为帝王的那一天起也更名为“August,之前他叫做“Octavian”（屋大维）。这个词来源于拉丁语“ augustus”，意为“神圣的，值得尊敬的 这也就赋予了英译词汇“august”（这里作为形容词）“值得尊敬的”的意思。September 九月 September follows on from Quinitlis and Sexti

14、lis, in that it comes 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” 之所以在 “ Quinitlis ” 和 “ Sextilis ” 之后，因 为它来源于拉丁语“se

15、ptem，这里是第七的意思。这样的话， 算上日历本里剩下的月份，我们现在有点混乱了。“September”起初在古罗马10个月的日历中是排第七个的， 那个10个月的日历中，第一个月份是“March。 October 十月 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

16、1 January in 153 BC.同样地，“octo” 在拉丁语中是“ eight(八)的意思，因为那个10个月的日历。大约在公元前713年的时候，日历的最后加上了两个月，在 公元前153年的时候，一年的开始从一月份计算了。November 十一月 The pattern continues: November comes from novem, nine . November is also, we re afraid, used with allusionto November s position at the end of the year, and to the charact

17、eristic greyness, gloominess, etc., associated with it in the northern hemisphere . The earliestknown example of this allusive use comes from Jane Austen sposthumously published novel Persuasion. 同上： “November”来自“novem”，在古罗马日历中位于第9个月。我们觉得“ November”同样也暗指它处在年末，具有灰暗， 晦暗的意思，通常和北半球有关。这个暗指性地用法最早由 现在简奥斯汀死后曲版的小说说服。 December 十 二月 And we finish off the year with December, from decem, ten. The month also comes with a brace of adjectives: Decemberish a