Whatzat mean? Word origins.

macele · 05-05-2013, 10:47 AM

December (n.)
c.1000, from Old French decembre, from Latin December, from decem "ten" (see ten); tenth month of the old Roman calendar, which began with March.

The -ber in four Latin month names is probably from -bris, an adjectival suffix. Tucker thinks that the first five months were named for their positions in the agricultural cycle, and "after the gathering in of the crops, the months were merely numbered."
If the word contains an element related to mensis, we must assume a *decemo-membris (from *-mensris). October must then be by analogy from a false division Sep-tem-ber &c. Perhaps, however, from *de-cem(o)-mr-is, i.e. "forming the tenth part or division," from *mer- ..., while October = *octuo-mr-is. [T.G. Tucker, "Etymological Dictionary of Latin"]

05-05-2013, 10:47 AM	#4
macele Member How Do You Identify?: a bold-assed maximus Preferred Pronoun?: she Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: mississippi Posts: 1,066 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 3,178 Thanked 3,230 Times in 847 Posts Rep Power: 21474850	December (n.) c.1000, from Old French decembre, from Latin December, from decem "ten" (see ten); tenth month of the old Roman calendar, which began with March. The -ber in four Latin month names is probably from -bris, an adjectival suffix. Tucker thinks that the first five months were named for their positions in the agricultural cycle, and "after the gathering in of the crops, the months were merely numbered." If the word contains an element related to mensis, we must assume a decemo-membris (from -mensris). October must then be by analogy from a false division Sep-tem-ber &c. Perhaps, however, from de-cem(o)-mr-is, i.e. "forming the tenth part or division," from mer- ..., while October = *octuo-mr-is. [T.G. Tucker, "Etymological Dictionary of Latin"]