January (English)

Where does "January" come from?

The English word 'January' traces back through Middle English 'Januarie' and Anglo-Norman 'genever' to the Latin 'Iānuārius', meaning of Janus[1]. This Latin term combines 'Iānus' or the Roman god of beginnings with the adjectival suffix '-ārius'[1][3]. The name of the deity itself connects to the Latin word 'iānus' meaning arcade or covered passageway[2], which ultimately stems from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to go[1][2].

Open questions

The ultimate connection of the first element to the Proto-Indo-European root meaning to go is a reconstructed form with uncertain status. [1] [2]

Full etymology tree

January (English), 'The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.'
- inherited Januarie (Middle English)
  - derived Janevere (Middle English)
    - borrowed genever (Anglo-Norman)
      - derived Ianuarius (Latin), 'of January'
        suffix Ianus (Latin), 'The god Janus.'
        derived ianus (Latin), 'arcade; covered passageway'
        inherited *jānos (Proto-Italic)
        derived *yeh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to go'
        suffix -arius (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives from nouns or numerals.'

Ancestors

Ianuarius (Latin)
Ianus (Latin)
-arius (Latin)

Cognates and doublets

Gennaro (English)

Descendants and derived words

জানুয়ারি (Bengali)
ဇန်နဝါရီ (Burmese)
Januwale (Chichewa)
ޖެނުއަރީ (Dhivehi)
Januarily (English)
January 6 (English)
January disease (English)
January effect (English)
January King (English)
January term (English)
mid-January (English)
mid-January (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris