January
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does January mean? January is the first month of the calendar year. It has 31 days and is followed by February. It follows December, the twelfth and final month of the previous year. January is closely associated with its position at the beginning of the year. January 1 is known as New Year’s Day due to being the first day of the year. For many people, January is a time of making New Year’s resolutions—decisions to do something or make some change in the new year, especially to change or start some habit or behavior. For example, many people start new exercise routines or diets in January. In the Northern Hemisphere, January is a winter month. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is a summer month. In the U. S., the most notable holiday in January after New Year’s Day is Martin Luther King Day, which is observed on the third Monday of the month. The inaugurations of new U. S. presidents and members of Congress are also held in January. Example: People treat January as a time of new beginnings and life changes, but I like to remind them that they can do that during any month.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of January
before 1000; Middle English < Latin, noun use of Jānuārius, equivalent to Jānu ( s ) Janus + -ārius -ary; replacing Middle English Genever, Jeniver < Anglo-French, Old French Genever, Jenever < Latin, as above; replacing Old English Januarius < Latin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While ASM International stock is still up over 30% since January, shares in the sector have been under strain in recent weeks as some investors worry that valuations and AI spending might be too high.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Samuel Tunick, an activist in a campaign to stop construction of a police training center in Georgia, is accused of destroying evidence during the January 24, 2025 incident at Atlanta's airport.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The deal was part of ESPN’s purchase of NFL Network and other league digital assets that was finalized in January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The easing of cattle crossings at the southern border could help the U.S. offset low herd counts that in January were pegged at a 75-year low.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
That came in January and February, when the temperature dropped to around -56 degrees Celsius and the sun was only up for six hours a day.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
Writing for Discover Magazine, Tom Yulsman points out that scientists expected this January to be cooler than preceding Januaries because of the ocean current cycles like El Niño and La Niña.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
Agents there nabbed more people last month than in the previous 12 Januaries combined.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
The two asset classes enjoyed one of the best Januaries on record.
From Reuters ● Feb. 6, 2023
But this year we can celebrate the very cool, and the very weird, and sometimes the just plain goofy gadgets that had us nostalgic for former Januaries in the Nevada desert.
From The Verge ● Jan. 7, 2022
As Van stood there waiting for the fifth-period kids to finish filing in, he flashed on a moment from nearly two Januaries earlier.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
