Editor's Corner

I love learning the history of words, and I thought I had done articles on the months of the year, but now I’m not so sure. I remember doing January and Janus words. And I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about some of the months the Romans named after the Caesars (Julius/July, Augustus/August), their gods (Mars/March, Juno/June), and their numbers (seven/September, eight/October, etc.) But April? I don’t remember learning or talking about April.

Dictionary.com put together an explanation this month. I’ve edited it just a bit.

Before January and February were added to the end of the year by King Numa Pompilius around 700 BCE, April was already the second month of the Roman calendar year (March was the first). Around 450 BCE, April was rearranged into the fourth slot, and was assigned 29 days.

With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, an extra day was added….

But being confident about the origin of a word that’s been around since before 1150 isn’t so simple. There are a few common theories behind April‘s naming. One is that the name is rooted in the Latin Aprilis, which is derived from the Latin aperire meaning “to open”—which could be a reference to the opening or blossoming of flowers and trees, a common occurrence throughout the month of April in the Northern Hemisphere.

Another theory holds that since months are often named for gods and goddesses, and since Aphrilis is derived from the Greek Aphrodite, it is possible the month was named for the Greek goddess of love (the goddess that the Romans called Venus)! Even now, April is a popular name. [KC – At first this seems reasonable, because March, June, and May (Maia) are named after gods and goddesses.
Why skip a month? But the Roman goddess was Venus and while they liked “borrowing” Greek things, they tended to rename them. I think if this were true, our month would be called Venusa or Venusember.]

And, as if that isn’t enough of a mystery, April also has yet another origination story. Around the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons referred to April as Oster-monath or Eostre-monath, a reference to the goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated during the month. The Venerable Bede, a monk from the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter, believed this gave root to the word Easter—which is most often observed during the month of April.

April’s derivation will remain a story full of maybes, but we don’t see this month going anywhere soon.

So that’s April. Nothing definitive, but there are several stories you can choose from. I hope your month is going swimmingly!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

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