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

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign staged a rally with Beyoncé in Houston, emphasizing the threat to reproductive rights, and a sombre evening event at the Ellipse, in Washington, D.C., memorializing January 6th and highlighting Trump’s fascism, a word that her campaign had only recently begun to use. —The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2024

In January 2023, the state's governor, a Republican, passed a voter ID law that limited how out-of-state students can verify their identities to cast ballots. —Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024

Following its public debut, Wordle exploded from 90 users on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 on January 2, 2022, according to figures by Statista. —Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024

The sun will rise later and later in New York City, hitting 7:20 a.m. in early January before switching earlier. —Addy Bink, The Hill, 2 Nov. 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.