month
Americannoun
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months
plural
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Also called calendar month. any of the twelve parts, as January or February, into which the calendar year is divided.
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the time from any day of one calendar month to the corresponding day of the next.
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a period of four weeks or 30 days.
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Also called solar month. one-twelfth of a solar or tropical year.
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Also called lunar month. the period of a complete revolution of the moon around the earth, as the period between successive new moons synodic month, equal to 29.531 days, or the period between successive conjunctions with a star sidereal month, equal to 27.322 days, or the period between successive perigees anomalistic month, equal to 27.555 days, or the period between successive similar nodes nodical month, or draconic month, equal to 27.212 days.
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an unusually long period of time of indefinite length.
I haven't seen him for months.
idioms
noun
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one of the twelve divisions ( calendar months ) of the calendar year
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a period of time extending from one date to a corresponding date in the next calendar month
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a period of four weeks or of 30 days
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the period of time ( tropical month ) taken by the moon to return to the same longitude after one complete revolution around the earth; 27.321 58 days (approximately 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 4.5 seconds)
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the period of time ( sidereal month ) taken by the moon to make one complete revolution around the earth, measured between two successive conjunctions with a distant star; 27.321 66 days (approximately 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11 seconds)
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Also called: lunation. the period of time ( lunar or synodic month ) taken by the moon to make one complete revolution around the earth, measured between two successive new moons; 29.530 59 days (approximately 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds)
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informal a long unspecified period
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of month
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English mōnath; cognate with Old High German mānōd, Old Norse mānathr. See moon
Explanation
A year is divided into twelve months, starting with January and ending with December. If it takes you a month to read a book, it takes approximately thirty days. A month is a unit of time that corresponds to the phases of the moon — which is the reason the word month, which comes from the Proto-Germanic menoth, is closely related to the word moon, whose root is menon. People have kept track of days this way since Paleolithic times, and even those who don't use the Gregorian, twelve-month calendar, still divide a year into months based on the moon.
Vocabulary lists containing month
Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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Earth and the Solar System - Middle School
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Earth and the Solar System - Introductory
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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:
Norris is expected to come up with proposals to further restrict the early release of some prisoners when Parliament resumes next month.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
After 70 years as the epicenter of Long Beach football, the iconic Veterans Memorial Stadium will be demolished later this month to make way for a modern replacement, slated for completion in 2029.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Earlier this month, Nvidia released Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, a “lightweight” version of its open weight model, and is developing its largest version of the product yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Despite the issues, Root decided earlier this month to scrap the midnight curfew that was imposed in January.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
At least once a month, they make a big elaborate meal together, and today they’re making all the foods Avery and I like best.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Both of them, signed for nine-figure fees last summer, will know that their overall output and connection must improve over the coming weeks and months.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Nonetheless, three months and thousands of dollars in legal fees later, Holt acknowledged the event for what it turned into: “An extra weight on my shoulders that I was carrying throughout the semester.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
It took months of being patient waiting for people to be willing to talk about the emotional scene to explain how his life was saved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
On June 6, 2025, after having spent about three torturous months in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center—known as CECOT—Abrego Garcia was brought back home.
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2026
Despite all the crazy of the last few months, everything I’ve been working for is finally within my grasp, and I’m not going to let anyone or anything get in my way of claiming it.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
