英语单词关于十二月份的词源小故事！（上）

Hi，各位好，我是April酱

很早以前，April酱写过一篇关于week

星期一到星期天的英文单词传奇小故事

今天想跟大家继续聊聊十二月份的故事

光说用英语表达12月，现在对于刚上幼儿园的小朋友来讲

也不是什么难事了，但是背后的故事你又了解吗？

先小小地透露一下：它们的来历通常和神、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，他是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 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, 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 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 otherdeitieswith 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