month

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥sder. Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs Proto-West Germanic *mānōþ Old English mōnaþ Middle English mon(e)th English month From Middle English mon(e)th, from Old English mōnaþ, from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþ, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþs (“month”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), probably derived from *meh₁- (“measure”) with moon-cycles being used to measure time. Related to moon. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Mound (“month”), Dutch maand (“month”), German Low German Maand (“month”), German Monat (“month”), Danish måned (“month”), Swedish månad (“month”), Icelandic mánuður (“month”). Eclipsed non-native Old English calend (“month”), borrowed from Latin calendae.

1. A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon.

   “July is my favourite month.”

   “Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.”

2. A period of 30 days, 31 days, or some alternation thereof.

   “Holonyms: bimester < trimester < quadrimester < semester < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond”

   “Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond < fortnight”

3. A woman's period; menstrual discharge.

   “Sckenkius hath two other instances of two melancholy and mad women, so caused from the suppression of their months.”