February

noun

Feb·​ru·​ary ˈfe-b(y)ə-ˌwer-ē  ˈfe-brə- 

plural Februaries or Februarys

: the second month of the Gregorian calendar

How do you pronounce February?: Usage Guide

Dissimilation may occur when a word contains two identical or closely related sounds, resulting in the change or loss of one of them. This happens regularly in February, which is more often pronounced \ˈfe-b(y)ə-ˌwer-ē\ than \ˈfe-brə-ˌwer-ē\, though all of these variants are in frequent use and widely accepted. The \y\ heard from many speakers is not an intrusion but rather a common pronunciation of the vowel u after a consonant, as in January and annual.

Examples of February in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Saturday’s match will be the Matildas’ final fixture of 2024 before the team begins its 2025 campaign at the SheBelieves Cup in February in the United States. —Manasi Pathak, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

The royal family was rocked when Buckingham Palace announced in February that King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, and his treatment is thought to be ongoing. —Janine Henni, People.com, 6 Dec. 2024

The agency launched a new email inbox in February for criminal justice authorities to use when reporting crimes and earlier this year sent police departments and state’s attorney’s offices information about the requirement to report charges to IDFPR. —Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 6 Dec. 2024

Airbus pulled the plug on the superjumbo in February 2019, after 12 years of service and said its last deliveries of the jet, which cost about $25 billion to develop, would be made in 2021. —Tiah Shepherd, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Februarie, from Old English Februarius, from Latin, from Februa, plural, feast of purification

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

February

noun

Feb·​ru·​ary ˈfeb-(y)ə-ˌwer-ē  ˈfeb-rə- 

: the second month of the year

Etymology

Old English Februarius "February," from Latin Februarius "February," literally, "of Februa," from Februa "feast of cleansing"

Word Origin

Every winter the ancient Romans would celebrate a festival of spiritual cleansing. The name of the festival was Februa. Because of its importance the Romans named the month in which it fell Februarius, which means "of Februa." The English name February comes from the Latin Februarius.