Month
WordNet
noun
(1) A time unit of approximately 30 days
"He was given a month to pay the bill"
(2) One of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
"He paid the bill last month"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Middle English < Old English mōnað < Proto-Germanic *mēnōþ- < Proto-Indo-European *me(n)ses- (moon, month), probably from PIE base *mê- (to measure), referring to the moon’s phases as the measure of time. Cognate with moon.
- Cognates include: Ancient Greek: μήν (mḗn), Armenian: ամիս (amis), German: Monat, Old High German: mānōd, Middle High German: mānōt, Old Irish: mí, and Old Slavic: (měsęncĭ).
Noun
- A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon. In the Gregorian calendar there are twelve months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
- A period of 30 days, 31 days, or some alternation thereof.
- A woman's period; menstrual discharge.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I, New York 2001, p. 234:
- Sckenkius hath two other instances of two melancholy and mad women, so caused from the suppression of their months.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. I, New York 2001, p. 234: