month

[ muhnth ]

/ mʌnθ /

noun

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

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

a period of four weeks or 30 days.

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

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.

an unusually long period of time of indefinite length: I haven't seen him for months.

Nearby words

Idioms

a month of Sundays. Sunday¹(def 4).

Origin of month

before 900; Middle English; Old English mōnath; cognate with Old High German mānōd, Old Norse mānathr. See moon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for months

As part of that effort, Said received weapons training for months, sources told The Daily Beast.
U.S. Spies See Al Qaeda Fingerprints on Paris Massacre|Shane Harris, Nancy A. Youssef|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What 15 months in a federal correction institution will be like, according to a man who counsels to-be inmates.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
All the slots for arrivals and departures are allocated months in advance.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As the months passed and she began to cast the film, I became increasingly excited.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Tony Shalhoub, Act One Sometimes you realize the power of a performance only when it remains in your mind many months later.
Hedwig, Hugh & Michael Cera: 12 Powerhouse Theater Performances of 2014|Janice Kaplan|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
During the summer months they should be protected from the direct rays of the sun, and kept well syringed.
Talks about Flowers.|M. D. Wellcome
I never knew at a given moment where he was, and there were times when for months together I never saw him.
Embarrassments|Henry James
But years at fifty are no more than months at thirty,—are less than weeks in boyhood.
John Caldigate|Anthony Trollope
He's been up here three times in as many months, and I intend to make an example of him.
The Honorable Peter Stirling and What People Thought of Him|Paul Leicester Ford
The deep cellars would hold grain and salt meat enough for months, and there was a spring within the walls.
Masters of the Guild|L. Lamprey

British Dictionary definitions for months

month

/ (mʌnθ) /

noun

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

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

a period of four weeks or of 30 days

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)

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)

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)

a month of Sundays informal a long unspecified period

Related formsRelated adjective: mensal

Word Origin for month

Old English mōnath; related to Old High German mānōd, Old Norse mānathr; compare Gothic mena moon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for months

month

Old English monað, from Proto-Germanic *menoth- (cf. Old Saxon manoth, Old Frisian monath, Middle Dutch manet, Dutch maand, Old High German manod, German Monat, Old Norse manaðr, Gothic menoþs "month"), related to *menon- "moon" (see moon (n.); the month was calculated from lunar phases). Its cognates mean only "month" in the Romance languages, but in Germanic generally continue to do double duty. Phrase a month of Sundays "a very long time" is from 1832 (roughly 7 and a half months, but never used literally).

Idioms and Phrases with months

month

In addition to the idiom beginning with month

month of Sundays, a

also see:

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

month

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of month

Examples from the Web for months

month

noun

Word Origin for month

month

month