Skip to content

"January" in seven languages

MeaningJanuary

Spanish

enero

/eˈneɾo/

masc.inherited

From a spoken *IENUĀRIUM, which lost its initial consonant.

French

janvier

/ʒɑ̃vje/

masc.inherited

Italian

gennaio

/dʒenˈnajo/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

janeiro

/ʒaˈnejɾu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

ianuarie

/januˈarje/

masc.learned

Romanian month names are modern Latinate replacements of folk names (gerar 'the frosty one').

Catalan

gener

/ʒəˈne/

masc.inherited

English

January

/ˈdʒænjuɛɹi/

from Latin/French · Latin IĀNUĀRIUS (via Anglo-Norman Genever)

English → ItalianJanuarygennaioCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

IĀNUĀRIUM‘(month) of Janus, god of doorways’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

The month of the two-faced door god. The -ĀRIUM ending shows its three outcomes: -ero, -ier, -aio. Months are lower-case in all three sisters.

English relatives: January, janitor (IĀNUA 'door')

Sound laws at work

-ĀRIUM: -ero, -ier, -aioInitial I- (J-) and G before E, I

Learn it

Practice the Time deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esMi cumpleaños es en enero.
  • frMon anniversaire est en janvier.
  • itIl mio compleanno è a gennaio.
  • ptMeu aniversário é em janeiro.
  • roZiua mea e în ianuarie.
  • caEl meu aniversari és al gener.
  • enMy birthday is in January.

More in Time

All Time words