英文的月份名稱源自古羅馬曆法，有些按數字順序排列，有些用神或皇帝命名。比如，“十月” October的拉丁語詞根“octo”意思其實是“八”，八爪章魚octopus也是這個詞根。那為何月份跟實際數字會有錯位呢？看看下面這個視頻你就知道了~
一月
January
January is named after the Roman god Janus, who presided over doors and beginnings – appropriately enough, for 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.
在羅馬傳說中，有一位名叫雅努斯(Janus)的守護神，負責掌管所有的出入門戶，象徵開始。事實上，雅努斯生有兩副面孔，可以同時看前也能看後，一副回顧過去，一副要眺望未來，所以人們認為選擇他的名字作為除舊迎新的第一個月月名，很有意義。英語January，便是由這位守護神的名字演變而來的。
二月
February
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由拉丁文februarius演變而來，源於februa。Februa是本月第15天舉行的一種宗教節日的名稱。
三月
March
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.
這個月份的月名又是由哪位神靈的名字演變而來的？你們可能猜到了:戰神瑪爾斯(Mars)。據《牛津英語詞典》記載，在古羅馬，3月是每年出征遠戰的季節，為了紀念戰神，人們便把他的名字作為3月的月名。
四月
April
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’.
對於四月的由來較不明確，可能是從拉丁文Aprillis演變來的，是羅馬舊曆法的第四個月。在古英語中，April也被稱為Eastermonab，即Easter month。
五月
May
The month is connected with the goddess Maia. Perhaps less well known now than the other deities 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.
希臘神話中的女神邁亞(Maia)，是泰坦神阿特拉斯(Atlas) 的女兒，大神赫爾墨斯（Hermes）的母親。專門執掌繁殖和生長的女神，在這春意盎然的季節，用她的名字來命名再合適不過。而單詞may為情態動詞，和月份名字沒有關聯。
六月
June
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.
剛才介紹的是一位希臘女神，而六月則是根據羅馬神話裡神後朱諾（Juno）的名字演變而來的，朱諾是神王朱庇特（Jupiter）之妻，司管婚姻和生育的女神。
七月
July
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.
這是第一個以真人名字命名的月份，羅馬統治者朱里斯·凱撒（Julius Caesar）大帝被刺死後，著名的羅馬將軍馬克·安東尼建議將凱撒大帝誕生的7月，用凱撒的名字——拉丁文Julius命名之。在重新命名之前，7月被稱為Quintilis，在英語裡就是Quintile，意為第五。很明顯，七月並不是第五個月份，至於為什麼會有這個名稱，我們後面說到九月和十月時會作出解釋。
八月
August
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’.
如今八月的英文名字是根據古羅馬帝國開國皇帝奧古斯都（Augustus）的名字命名的，在改名前稱為Sextilis，意為“第六”。奧古斯都，原名屋大維（Octavian），他登基後獲得了“奧古斯都Augustus”的尊號，取自拉丁文augustus，意為神聖、至尊的意思。而形容詞august也相對有了令人敬畏、顯赫的意思。
九月
September
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源自拉丁文septem，就是“七”的意思。原來古羅馬人只把一年分為十個月，March是一月，而September正好就是七月。
十月
October
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.
和上面說到的九月一樣，英語中的十月，來自拉丁文octo，即“八”的意思，也是根據老曆法來的。公元前713年，曆法被修改，增加了兩個月放在年尾，而到了公元前153年，才以1月1日作為新一年的開始。
十一月
November
The pattern continues: November comes from novem, ‘nine’.
英語中的十一月取自拉丁文novem，即“九”的意思。
十二月
December
And we finish off the year with December, from decem, ‘ten’.
英語中的十二月，來自拉丁文的decem，意為“十”。
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