Days
Do not forget to read the study on the week here.
| Word | Origin and evolution | Current form since |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Latin: dies Lunae ("day of the Moon"), then Lunae dies. 1119: lunsdi |
1160 |
| Tuesday | Latin: dies Martis ("day of Mars"), then Martis dies. 1119: marsdi |
1262 |
| Wednesday | Latin: dies Mercuris ("day of Mercury"), then Mercuri dies. 1119: mercresdi 1339: merkredi |
1694 |
| Thursday | Latin: dies Jovis ("day of Jupiter"), then Jovis dies. 1119: juesdi 1694: jeudy |
1740 |
| Friday | Latin: Veneris diem ("day of Venus"). 1119: vendresdi 1694: vendredy |
1740 |
| Saturday | Latin: dies Saturni ("day of Saturn"), then sambati dies ("day of the Sabbath"). sambati comes from the genitive of sambatum. 12th century: samadi, samedi. 1694: samedy |
1740 |
| Sunday | Latin: dies dominicus ("day of the Lord"), then didominicu, then diominicu. 1119: diemenche. 14th century: dymanche |
1690? |
Months
| Word | Origin and evolution | Current form since |
|---|---|---|
| January | Late Latin: jenuarius. Latin: januarius ("month of Janus"). In Roman mythology, Janus (from janua, "door") was the god of doors, beginnings and transitions. He was represented with two opposite faces, one at the front and one at the back, watching both entry and exit. He presided over the beginning of the year. Around 1120: jenvier. |
late 12th century |
| February | Classical Latin: februarius mensis ("month of purification"). Late Latin: febrarius. |
12th century |
| March | Uncertain origin. Latin: martius mensis, meaning "month of Mars", Mars being the god of war. The word Mars may come from a deformation of the name Ares. |
1215 |
| April | Classical Latin: aprilis. Vulgar Latin: aprilius, to stay consistent with forms such as martius, junius, julius... 1080: avrill (La Chanson de Roland). At that time, avril referred both to the month and to spring. In Middle French, avril no longer meant the month but "spring" and "the prime of life". |
1120 |
| May | Latin: maius or majus, with the same root as major, comparative of magnus ("great"). maius mensis meant "month of Maia". Maia was an Italic goddess, daughter of Faunus and wife of Vulcan, later identified with one of the Pleiades. |
1080 |
| June | Two possible origins: 1) Latin: junius (month dedicated to Juno, an Italic then Roman deity, wife of Jupiter; goddess of femininity and marriage). 2) More recent hypothesis: Latin: junius mensis, meaning "month of Junius", Junius being the first consul of Rome and one of the founders of the Republic. |
1119 |
| July | Latin: julius mensis ("month of Julius"). This month was named in honor of Emperor Julius Caesar, who was born during that month. 1213, Old French: juil, with the present meaning of the month of July, then influenced by June. Forms such as juignet or juigniet are also found, where the diminutive suffix "-et" gives the meaning "little June", "younger June". |
13th century |
| August | Popular Latin: augustus (mensis), "month of Augustus", replacing Sextilis (mensis) in tribute to Emperor Augustus. Late Latin: augustus became agustus. Augustus had the meaning "consecrated by augurs" (augury = favorable omen). The word comes from an Indo-European root aweg, meaning "to increase", "to grow". Around 1120: aüst. 12th century: aoust. Then: agust, aüst, aost, aoust, oust, äust. |
12th century |
| September | Latin: from septem, which meant "the seventh month of the year". In Greek, the form is hept, found again in words related to "weekly". 1100: setembre |
12th century |
| October | Latin: from octo, meaning eight. 1119: uitovre |
1213 |
| November | Latin: from novem, meaning nine. | 1119 |
| December | Classical Latin: december, derived from decem, meaning ten. | 12th century |
Seasons
| word | origin and evolution | current form since |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Latin: primus tempus, literally "first time", with the meaning "good season". Old French: primever, meaning "spring". Primever evolved in modern French into primevère ("flower that blooms in spring"). 13th-16th centuries: Printens-temps. Around the 12th century, forms such as prins tans, then prinstans, were also used. |
late 13th century |
| Summer | Indo-European root aidh-, meaning "to burn". Greek: the verb aithein ("to make burn") gave aithêr ("bright sky", "upper region of the air"). Classical Latin: aestatem, accusative of aestas, which already meant summer and was a feminine noun. The fact that the French word for summer is now masculine is likely due to the other season names, all masculine. The form aestivus ("of summer") gave Late Latin aestivalis, then the French word estival. 1100: ested. 1140: esté. |
17th century |
| Autumn | Latin: autumnus or auctumnus. This word comes from augeo, meaning "to increase", and therefore has the same root as auctor (author). Autumnus therefore means the season that is increased, enriched. |
13th century |
| Winter | Latin adjective: hibernum tempus, winter time. The Latin noun for winter, hiems, refers to a period of bad weather. 1160: hyver. |
17th century |
