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:
The joint statement follows concerns raised by the World Cricketers' Association last month over the decision.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
At 62, her benefit is just $900 a month.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
They’ve sent Yum and Sweetgreen shares down 10% and 30%, respectively, in the past month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Zoox received a first-of-its-kind exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month, allowing them to operate purpose-built robotaxis and charge for it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
December of 1941 is a brutal month for the Philippines, especially in Manila.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
He is also no longer listed on the websites of two other scheduled events in the coming months.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced by 5/12 of 1% per month.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
The farm-and-ranch chain Tractor Supply made a strategic pivot this summer, after its executives spent months debating whether inflation and other pressures squeezing their customers would be short-lived.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
And this year’s El Niño could be similarly powerful in a matter of months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
It was months since we’d heard from our parents.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
