February is the second month of the year in the
Julian
Julian may refer to:
People
* Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363
* Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots
* Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints
* Julian (give ...
and
Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in
common year
A common year is a calendar year with 365 days, as distinguished from a leap year, which has 366. More generally, a common year is one without intercalation. The Gregorian calendar (like the earlier Julian calendar) employs both common years ...
s or 29 in
leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (the other four being April, June, September, and November) and the only one to have fewer than 30 days.
February is the third and last month of
meteorological winter in the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
. In the
Southern Hemisphere, February is the third and last month of
meteorological summer (being the seasonal equivalent of what is
August in the Northern Hemisphere).
Pronunciation
"February" is pronounced in several different ways. The beginning of the word is commonly pronounced either as or ; many people drop the first "r", replacing it with , as if it were spelled "Febuary". This comes about by analogy with "January" (), as well as by a
dissimilation effect whereby having two "r"s close to each other causes one to change. The ending of the word is pronounced in the US and in the UK.
History
Derived from the Latin word, the Roman month was named after the Latin term , which means "purification", via the purification ritual held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar
Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by
Numa Pompilius
Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...
about 713 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the
decemvirs (c. 450 BC), when it became the second month. At certain times February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary month,
Intercalaris, was occasionally inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the
seasons.
February observances in
Ancient Rome included
Amburbium (precise date unknown),
Sementivae (February 2),
Februa (February 13–15),
Lupercalia (February 13–15),
Parentalia (February 13–22),
Quirinalia
In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''.
Name
Attestations
The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sourc ...
(February 17),
Feralia (February 21),
Caristia (February 22),
Terminalia
Terminalia may refer to:
* Terminalia (festival), a Roman festival to the god of boundaries Terminus
* ''Terminalia'' (plant), a tree genus
* Terminalia (insect anatomy), the terminal region of the abdomen in insects
* ''Polyscias terminalia'', a ...
(February 23),
Regifugium (February 24), and
Agonium Martiale
An Agonalia or Agonia was an obscure archaic religious observance celebrated in ancient Rome several times a year, in honor of various divinities. Its institution, like that of other religious rites and ceremonies, was attributed to Numa Pompil ...
(February 27). These days do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar.
Under the reforms that instituted the
Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, ..., December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered
Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order. The
Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years, but also contained a 29-day February.
Historical names for February include the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...
) as well as
Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called , meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice. In
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, respectively, the month is called or (), meaning the month of ice or hard frost. In
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
the month is (), meaning month of cutting (wood). In Czech, it is called , meaning month of submerging (of river ice).
In
Slovene, February is traditionally called , related to
icicles or
Candlemas
Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presentati ...
.
This name originates from , written as in the ''New Carniolan Almanac'' from 1775 and changed to its final form by
Franc Metelko
Franc Serafin Metelko, also known as Fran Metelko (14 July 1789 – 27 December 1860) was a Slovene Roman Catholic priest, author, and philologist, best known for his proposal of a new script for the Slovene called the Metelko alphabet, which ...
in his ''New Almanac'' from 1824. The name was also spelled , meaning "the month of cutting down of trees".
In 1848, a proposal was put forward in ''
Kmetijske in rokodelske novice
{{Unreferenced, date=July 2015
''Kmetijske in rokodelske novice'' ( en, Agricultural and Artisan News), frequently referred to simply as ''Novice'' (''News''), was a Slovene-language newspaper in the 19th century, which had an influential role i ...
'' by the Slovene Society of
Ljubljana to call this month (related to ice melting), but it did not stick. The idea was proposed by a priest, Blaž Potočnik. Another name of February in Slovene was , after the mythological character
Vesna.
Patterns
Having only 28 days in common years, February is the only month of the year that can pass without a single
full moon. Using
Coordinated Universal Time as the basis for determining the date and time of a full moon, this last happened in 2018 and will next happen in 2037. The same is true regarding a
new moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse.
...
: again using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis, this last happened in 2014 and will next happen in 2033.
February is also the only month of the calendar that, at intervals alternating between one of six years and two of eleven years, has exactly four full 7-day
weeks. In countries that start their week on a Monday, it occurs as part of a
common year starting on Friday
A common year starting on Friday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Friday, 1 January, and ends on Friday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is C. The most recent year of such kind was 2021 and the next one will ...
, in which February 1st is a Monday and the 28th is a Sunday; the most recent occurrence was
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, and the next one will be
2027
Predicted and scheduled events
* January 1 – In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1931 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law.
* February 6 – Annular solar e ...
. In countries that start their week on a Sunday, it occurs in a
common year starting on Thursday
A common year starting on Thursday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Thursday, 1 January, and ends on Thursday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is D. The most recent year of such kind was 2015 and the next one ...
; the most recent occurrence was
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and the next occurrence will be
2026
Predicted and scheduled events
* January 1
** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1930 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law.
** ''Soup to Nuts'', the first on-scree ...
. The pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100.
Astronomy
February
meteor showers
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...
include the
Alpha Centaurids
The Alpha Centaurids are a meteor shower in the constellation Centaurus
Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the 88 modern constellations by area, largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 conste ...
(appearing in early February), the
March Virginids (lasting from February 14 to April 25, peaking around March 20), the
Delta Cancrids The Delta Cancrids is a medium strength meteor shower lasting from December 14 to February 14, the main shower from January 1 to January 24. The radiant is located in the constellation of Cancer, near Delta Cancri
Delta Cancri (δ Cancr ...
(appearing December 14 to February 14, peaking on January 17), the
Omicron Centaurids
The Omicron Centaurids meteor shower has a radiant which is in the constellation Centaurus
Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the 88 modern constellations by area, largest constellations, Centaurus was included a ...
(late January through February, peaking in mid-February),
Theta Centaurids
Theta Centaurids is a weak meteor shower that occurs from January 23 to March 12. It is only visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
Basic information
*Abbreviation: TCE
*Speed: 60 km/s
*Rating: Weak
*Hourly rate: 4
*Peak Date: February 14
...
(January 23 – March 12, only visible in the southern hemisphere),
Eta Virginids (February 24 and March 27, peaking around March 18), and
Pi Virginids (February 13 and April 8, peaking between March 3 and March 9).
February symbols
*February’s
full moon is called
Snow Moon
*Its birth flowers are the violet (''
Viola''), the common primrose (''
Primula vulgaris''), and the
Iris.
*
Its birthstone is the
amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...
. It symbolizes piety, humility, spiritual wisdom, and sincerity.
*The zodiac signs for the month of February were
Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainment ...
(until February 18) and
Pisces
Pisces may refer to:
* Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish
* Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign
* Pisces (constellation), a constellation
**Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...
(February 19 onwards).
*Its animal is the
tiger, the third of the 12-year cycle of animals in the
Chinese Zodiac.
Observances
''This list does not necessarily imply either official status nor general observance.''
Month-long observances
* In Catholic tradition, February is the Month of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
*
American Heart Month (
United States)
*
Black History Month (United States, Canada)
*
National Bird-Feeding Month
February is National Bird-Feeding Month in the United States."Bosak, Chris. "A Change in Attitude Regarding Feeding Birds." ''The Hour'' orwalk, CT3 February 2010.Rugg, Jeff. "It's National Bird-Feeding Month." ''The Herald-Mail'' (United States)
* National Children's Dental Health Month (United States)
* Season for Nonviolence">agerstown, ...
)
* List of Month-long observances#February, Turner Syndrome Awareness Month (United States)
''(All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.)''
*
* Anthony Aveni, "February's Holidays: Prediction, Purification, and Passionate Pursuit," ''The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 29–46.