资料图（来源：沪江英语）
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 that’s what I did。 There is also， of course， also the chance that you have been merrily scheduling in gym appointments and book clubs and all sorts of other details relating to New Year’s resolutions （have you kept yours so far？） but we’ll take the opportunity to add a resolution to your list： learn where we got the names for all the months of the year。 Spoilers： it’s a mixture of gods， rulers， and numbers。
新的一年又开始了，也许你已经买了一本新的日记本或日历本。你们可能有这样的疑问：“这些月份的说法有什么样的由来呢“？——至少我有。当然，你们也有可能已经制定好新年计划，比如：制定健身计划，预定好社团以及其他和新年计划有关的细节（你想好你的新年计划了吗？）。我们想借此机会在你们新计划列表上增添上这样一项计划：了解12个月份的来历。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 backwards 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。
一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
February is ultimately based on Latin februarius， from februa。 In case that’s 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。
二月形成于拉丁语“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 several festivals of Mars took place in March， presumably in 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 know that the English word April comes from the Latin 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 is connected with the goddess Maia。 Perhaps less well known now than the otherdeities 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 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 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。
介绍了一位希腊神灵，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 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 you’ve been counting， you’ll know that July isn’t the fifth month： we’ll come on 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，七月正好是他出生的月份。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 month 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 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 Sextilis， 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“septem”，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 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 allusion to November’s 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 Jane Austen’s posthumously 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出现在简奥斯汀死后出版的小说《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 and Decemberly， the latter of which can also be used as an adverb。 And there you have it： a whole calendar year of etymologies to see you through the whole of 2016。
最后我们来讲讲“December”，来源于“decem”，最初指的是十月。这个词还有一些形容词形式：“Decemberish”和“Decemberly”，后者还可以作为副词。好了，这就是和2016年所有月份的有关的典故来源了。
