month

American  

[muhnth] / mʌnθ /

noun

1. Also called calendar month.  any of the twelve parts, as January or February, into which the calendar year is divided.

2. the time from any day of one calendar month to the corresponding day of the next.

3. a period of four weeks or 30 days.

4. Also called solar month.  one-twelfth of a solar or tropical year.

5. 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.

6. an unusually long period of time of indefinite length.

   I haven't seen him for months.

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idioms

1. a month of Sundays. Sunday.

month British  

/ mʌnθ /

noun

1. one of the twelve divisions ( calendar months ) of the calendar year

2. a period of time extending from one date to a corresponding date in the next calendar month

3. a period of four weeks or of 30 days

4. 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)

5. 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)

6. 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)

7. informal a long unspecified period

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month More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing month

• (for months) on end
• by the day (month)

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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.

Example Sentences

Annual consumer-price growth cooled to 4.2% for the 12 months through April, down from 4.6% a month earlier, although much of that was due to a temporary fuel-tax cut.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026

The race took another turn last month when Pratt, who is best known as a star of MTV’s “The Hills,” delivered an assured debate performance against Bass and Raman.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Addressing the issue of officer training, Mullin said Tuesday that the agency will return next month to 72 days of training for new recruits, including new training on crowd control.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026

Stocks rallied last month after the Trump administration pledged to invest $2 billion into quantum technology.

From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026

Within a month, a Herald reporter stepped into Maggie’s tiny apartment on New York’s West Forty-Fourth Street.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Related Words

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