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

India’s Anti-CAA protests In a series of protests sparked in December of 2019, thousands of students across India protested to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)—a law which many view as discriminatory. —Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

Marie died in December 2017 at 94. 04 of 09 Morey Amsterdam as Buddy Sorrell After playing Rob Petrie's coworker, Buddy Sorrell, Morey Amsterdam worked on the writing team for Your Show of Shows. —Angela Andaloro, People.com, 23 Mar. 2025

Visitors heading to Little Corn Island should be aware that windy conditions from December through February can make the boat ride from Big Corn Island rough, or on the rare occassion, cause it to be canceled outright. —Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 23 Mar. 2025

Georgios and his peers were spurred to action in December after a Christmas tree was lit on fire in Al-Sqailbiyyah, just outside Hama. —Chris Massaro, Fox News, 23 Mar. 2025

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

Rhymes for December

• dismember
• nonmember
• november
• remember
• september
• ember
• member

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.