Would you believe me if I told you that January was not always the first month of the English calendar? Believe it or not, but it is true! The calendar used in ancient Rome began in March and ended in February.
Although the present calendar differs greatly from that of the Roman calendar, the names of the ancient Roman months are still used in the present calendar. The names of these Roman twelve months also have different meanings. Let's find out what these meanings are.
March
In ancient Rome, the beginning of the new year was a time of celebration. At that time there were breaks in all kinds of wars and since the new year started with March, it was named after the Roman god of war, Mars.
April
There are basically three doctrines behind naming April. Some people think that April in Latin means second and since April was then the second month of the year, it is so named.
Some people think that it has been done from the Latin word 'aprir' which means to unveil. The new buds that bloom in April are unveiled, hence the name April. Some people think that the name April comes from the Roman goddess Aphrodite.
May
May was named after the Roman goddess of tree production, Maya.
June
June has always been considered the month of marriage. That is why it is named after Juno, the queen of the gods of marriage.
July
In 44 BC, July was named after Julius Caesar. Earlier, July was called ‘Quantilas’, which means fifth in Latin.
August
In 6 BC, Augustus was named after Augustus Caesar, whose first name was Sextelia, which means sixth in Latin.
September
The name comes from the Latin word ‘septem’ which means, seventh.
October
The eighth is called ‘Octo’ in Latin from which the name October comes.
November
November comes from the Latin word ‘novem’ which means ninth.
December
Similarly, the name December comes from the Latin word 'December'. December means tenth.
February
At the end of the year, there was a month-long festival called 'Februa'. Around 690 BC, the then Roman emperor Numa Pompilius converted the Februa festival into a month, and from this came February.
January
Pompelius finally appeared in January at the beginning of the year, after the first and last god, Janus.
This is the history of naming the month. Now let's find out the reason behind naming the days of the English week.
Sunday
The name Sunday originates from the Latin word ‘dice solis’ which means ‘day of the sun’.
Monday
The Anglo-Saxon word ‘monadag’ which means ‘day of the moon’ comes from Monday.
Tuesday
Tuesday is named after the Norse god Tear. Tear is Odin's son.
Wednesday
Wednesday is named after the Norse god Odin.
Thursday
The day is named after the Norse lightning god Thor, whom we all know.
On friday
Friday is named after the Norse goddess Frig. Frig is Odin's wife.
Saturday
Saturn was formerly called Saturn after the Roman god Saturn, which means Saturn.
Almost everyone knows about the introduction of the Bengali year by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1584 AD. Now let's not know about the introduction of the names of the twelve months of the Bengali calendar.
The names of Bengali months all come from the names of different stars. Baishakh comes from the name of Vishakha Nakshatra, Jyastha comes from Jyeshtha. The origin of Asadha is from Ashara, the origin of Shravan is from Shravan. Bhadra, Ashwin, Karthik, came from Bhadrapada, Ashwini and Krittika respectively. Another name for the month of Agrahayan is Margashirsha which comes from Mrigashira. Poush, Magh, Falgun and Chaitra originate from Pusya, Magha, Falguni and Chitra respectively.
Like English, the seven days of Bengali week are also named after gods and planets. Mondays are named after Mon or Shiva and differently after the moon. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are named after the planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, respectively. Sunday is named after the sun or sun god.
It is pertinent to note that the mistake we make when we know about Bengali and English days is that Bengali days start at sunrise and English days start at midnight, after 12 o'clock.
Without these words we cannot think everyday. However, few of us knew that there could be a story behind their naming!
