April

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Aprīlis,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} short for mēnsis (“month”) Aprīlis, the second month of the old Roman calendar;^[7][4][8] in later use it was also borrowed from Anglo-Norman aprill, with Old French avrill.^[2] An earlier Middle English form averil, from the French, is recorded from about 1300, or probably before 1200 in Barnhart,^[7][8] and lasted until the 15th century in England and longer in Scotland;^[9] Barnhart traces the French form to Vulgar Latin *Aprilius, an alteration of the Latin name.^[8] The origin of Aprīlis is uncertain.^[7][2][8] It may be based on Etruscan apru, an Etruscan borrowing of Ancient Greek Ἀφρώ (Aphrṓ), short for Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē), which would make it the month of Venus;^{[7][9][10][11][12]} or it may mean "the following, the next", from Proto-Italic *ap(e)ro-, from Proto-Indo-European *apo- (“away, off”).^[7] The old folk etymology from aperiō (“to open”), because the earth then opens to bring forth fruit, is given by Skeat.^[13][7] The Latin word is also the source of French avril, Spanish abril, Italian aprile and German April.^[2] In English it replaced the native name Old English Ēastermōnað.^[7][14][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fourth month of the year: in the Old English treatise On Concurrents.^[2] Old English texts often used the Latin name beside the native one: the Old English Martyrology says "Þone monað man nemneð on Læden Aprelis, ond on ure geþeode Eastermonaþ".^[2] Etymonline dates the Latin form in English to the mid-12th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The Latin-shaped April, Aperill appears about 1375, in Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite,^[8] and replaced the French-derived averil.^[8][9] Weekley notes that both forms were at first stressed on the second syllable.^[14][9] Middle English also spelled it apprile on the Latin model from the late 14th century.^[7] From 1583 the name was used figuratively, alluding to the spring or to the changeable weather of the month,^[2][5] and Johnson (1755) quoted "Men are April when they woo, December when they wed".^[15] The phrase April fool goes back at least to the late 17th century;^[9] Weekley thought the custom not old in England and compared Scots April gowk and poisson d'avril.^[14] Northern English dialects had April-gowk, April-noddy and April-gob for an April fool, and April-errand for a fool's errand on the first of April.^[16]

Timeline

• Old English – the Latin name for the fourth month, beside the native Ēastermōnað.^[2]
• c. 1300 – aueril, from French.^[7]
• c. 1375 – April, Aperill, in Chaucer.^[8]
• 1583 – figurative, with reference to spring or changeable weather.^[2]
• late 17th century – April fool.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 30 days, between March and May: The orchard blossoms every April.^[10][17][2]
2. (figurative) A time of youth, freshness and hope, or of changeable moods, like the spring month.^[10][2][5]

Word family

• April fool

Related words

• Aphrodite

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e f Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
17. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins