Etymologically
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October

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔkˈtoː.bɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [okˈtɔː.ber][1]

Forms

Octōber (feminine Octōbris); third-declension three-termination adjective[1] Inscriptions also have the spellings ⟨Ott-⟩, ⟨Otob-⟩ and ⟨Octrob-⟩.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin octō (“eight”), formed in the same way as December.[3][4] Wiktionary describes it as made by analogy with September, as if from the numeral and a suffix ⟨-ber⟩.[1] The name refers to the eighth month, because the old Roman year began in March.[1][5] Ancient writers derived it from the number, and Isidore of Seville from the number and imber (“rain”), as the TLL reports.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Cato on,[4][6] as the name of the eighth month.[3]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it went with mensis “month” or with the days of the month, such as the Kalendae and Idus of October;[3][5] it was also used alone as a masculine noun.[3][5] It was the eighth month of the Roman year before the Julian reforms and the tenth after them.[3] The “October horse” (October equus) was the right-hand horse of the winning chariot pair, sacrificed to Mars each year on the Campus Martius in October, according to Paulus' summary of Festus.[5] It was also a Roman surname.[5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses the month name.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero dates by the Kalends of October.[3][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it as a noun, “October”.[5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of October, belonging to the month of October.[3][5]

Noun

  1. The month of October, the eighth of the old Roman year and the tenth after the Julian reform.[3][7]

Usage notes

In writing it was commonly abbreviated Oct. or Octob.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson