Nivôse (; also ''Nivose'') was the fourth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''nivosus'', which means ''snowy''. Nivôse was the first month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It started between 21 and 23 December. It ended between 19 and 21 January. It follows the Frimaire and precedes the Pluviôse. The new names for the calendar were suggested by

Fabre d'Églantine Philippe François Nazaire Fabre d'Églantine (, 28 July 1750 – 5 April 1794), commonly known as Fabre d'Églantine, was a French actor, dramatist, poet, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for having invented the names o ...

on 24 October 1793. On 24 November the National Convention accepted the names with minor changes. So it was decided to omit the

circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from la, circumflexus "bent around"a ...

(''accent circonflexe'') in the names of the winter months. So the month was named ''Nivose'' instead of ''Nivôse''. Historiography still prefers the spelling ''Nivôse''.

Day name table

Like all months in the French Republican Calendar, Nivôse lasted 30 days and was divided into three 10-day weeks called ''décades'' (decades). The 5th (Quintidi) day of every decade was named after a domestic animal, the 10th day (Decadi) after an agricultural tool (Decadi). Different from the other months the rest of the days were not named after an agricultural plant, but after a mineral or animal substance. Fabre d'Églantine says about this topic: :

"In Nivôse earth is sealed and usually covered with snow. At this time earth is resting and there are no herbal agriculture products to characterize this month. We rather took names of animal and mineral substances of agricultural use."

Conversion table

External links

Winter Quarter of Year II (facsimile)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nivose French Republican calendar December January sv:Franska revolutionskalendern#Månaderna