November

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English November,^[2] borrowed from Latin November, also Novembris,^[3][4] and later borrowed from Anglo-Norman novembre and novembre.^[3][5][6] The Latin is short for November mēnsis,^[3] from novem (“nine”),^[3][4][7] a relative of nine,^[4][8] with -ber, also -bris, a suffix of uncertain origin found in the names of months.^[3] It was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar, whose year began in March.^[4][6][7] Compare Spanish noviembre, Portuguese novembro, Italian novembre, Dutch november and German November.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The eleventh month of the year: in Old English, in the Rule of St Benet,^[3] before 1000 in Dictionary.com.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date the French form novembre to about 1200.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin name replaced the Old English Blōtmōnað (“month of sacrifice”), also Blōdmōnað,^[3][4][6][9] which Barnhart and Etymonline explain by the slaughter of animals in preparation for winter.^[6][4] The Old English Menologium still uses both the native and the Latin name.^[3] Poets personified the month from 1719.^[3] Austen's Persuasion, from before 1817, is the first record of November alluding to its place at the end of the year and to the greyness and gloom associated with it in the north.^[3] Johnson (1755) still explains it as the ninth month reckoned from March.^[10] Between 1775 and 1832 it was short for November moth.^[3] Merriam-Webster dates the use as a code word for the letter n to 1956.^[5][11]

Timeline

• about 1200 – the form novembre, from French.^[6][4]
• 1719 – November personified, in poetry.^[3]
• 1775 – short for November moth (obsolete by 1832).^[3]
• before 1817 – with allusion to the gloom and the end of the year, in Austen.^[3]
• 1956 – a code word for the letter n.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The eleventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with 30 days.^[3][5][11]
2. In communications, a code word for the letter n.^[11][5]

Related words

• nine
• September
• October
• December

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins