July

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English julie,^[2][3] inherited from Old English Julius,^[2][4] borrowed from Latin Iūlius,^[5][6] and later borrowed from Anglo-Norman julie and juil,^[5][7][6] themselves from the Latin.^[5] The Latin is short for mēnsis Iūlius,^[5] named after Julius Caesar,^[5][6][7][2] who was born in this month.^[5][6][3] It was the fifth month of the ancient Roman calendar, Quīntīlis, until it was renamed in 44 BC.^[5][6][8] Compare Spanish julio, Portuguese julho, Italian luglio, Dutch juli and German Juli;^[5] French juillet has a separate origin according to the OED,^[5] while Etymonline calls it a diminutive,^[6] and Weekley a mixture of the Old French form with juignet, "little June".^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The seventh month of the year: in late Old English, in the Peterborough manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under 1115.^[5] Barnhart dates the form Julie before 1121,^[3] and Etymonline dates Iulius to about 1050.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was accented on the first syllable until the 18th century, rhyming with truly,^[6][10][3] and as late as the mid-1700s it was pronounced so, as it still is in much of the southern United States.^[3] The modern stress on the last syllable was called abnormal and unexplained by the OED, as quoted by Etymonline;^[6] Weekley suggests an instinctive attempt to keep it apart from June.^[9] It replaced the Old English name Æfterra Līða (“later mild (month)”).^[6][9][5] Johnson (1755) still explains the month as the old quintilis, the fifth from March, and quotes Peacham's picture of July eating cherries in a jacket of light yellow.^[11] Kent and Wiltshire dialects used it in plant and insect names, such as July-bug, the cockchafer.^[12]

Timeline

• late Old English – the seventh month, as the Latin form.^[5]
• before 1393 – the form Juyl.^[3]
• 18th century – the stress moves to the last syllable.^[6][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with 31 days.^[5][13]

Word family

• Fourth of July

Related words

• Julius
• August
• Julian
• June
• quintile

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins