December

noun

De·​cem·​ber di-ˈsem-bər 

dē-

: the 12th month of the Gregorian calendar

Examples of December in a Sentence

Her birthday is in late December.

This December was not as cold as the past few Decembers have been.

Recent Examples on the Web

Japanese authorities in 2022 said Netflix failed to report a total of $10 million (1.2 billion yen) in income over the three years ending December 2019 (the company is believed to have since settled its tax bill with Japan). —Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Professor Ned Foley, the director of the election-law program at Ohio State University, told me that his biggest worry this year was a new deadline of December 16th. —The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024

Counties legally have until December 5 to finish their counts, but this is usually done within two weeks of Election Day. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

In December 2021, he was declared legally dead by a local court, the statement added. —Jack Guy, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Decembre, from Old English or Anglo-French, both from Latin December (tenth month), from decem ten — more at ten

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

December

noun

De·​cem·​ber di-ˈsem-bər 

: the twelfth month of the year

Etymology

Middle English Decembre, December "last month of the year," from early French decembre (same meaning), from Latin December, literally, "tenth month," from decem "ten" — related to decimal, dime

Word Origin

In the first calendar used by the ancient Romans, the year began with the month of March. The Romans called the tenth month of the year December, using the Latin word decem, meaning "ten." When the word was borrowed into early French, it became decembre. That was also how it was first spelled when it came into Middle English. In time, however, the English word was changed to match the original Latin in spelling and in having a capital letter.