January

noun

Jan·​u·​ary ˈjan-yə-ˌwer-ē 

-ˌwe-rē

plural Januaries or Januarys

: the first month of the Gregorian calendar

Examples of January in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The most lasting impact of a government shutdown for Washington could be felt by President-elect Donald Trump himself as shuttered federal agencies stall the transition to a new administration on January 20, a top White House aide and legal experts said. —Sam Woodward, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2024

Of the eight managers hired since the current ownership group bought the club in January 2010, Grant, Slaven Bilic and Manuel Pellegrini are the only ones to leave midway through their contracts — and of those, Grant only left when relegation was confirmed. —Roshane Thomas, The Athletic, 20 Dec. 2024

The transfer of shares by Mr. Trump to a trust may be an attempt to avoid potential conflict of interest issues once he is sworn in as president in January. —Matthew Goldstein, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2024

Netflix has been expanding its live sports programming this year, with Christmas Day NFL games coming next week and WWE’s Monday Night Raw series moving there in January. —Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Januarie, from Latin Januarius, 1st month of the ancient Roman year, from Janus

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

January

noun

Jan·​u·​ary ˈjan-yə-ˌwer-ē 

: the first month of the year

Etymology

from Latin Januarius "first month of the year," from Janus, a Roman god

Word Origin

Among the many gods worshipped by the ancient Romans was one named Janus. He was believed to have two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. Janus was associated with doors, gates, and all beginnings. Because of that, when the Romans changed their calendar and added two months to the beginning of the year, they named the first one Januarius to honor Janus. The English January comes from Latin Januarius.