Slovene months have standard modern names derived from Latin names, as in most European languages. There are also archaic Slovene month names, mostly of Slavic origin, which exist in both a standardized set as well as many variations.

Standard modern names

The standard modern Slovene month names are ''januar'', ''februar'', ''marec'', ''april'', ''maj'', ''junij'', ''julij'', ''avgust'', ''september'', ''oktober'', ''november'', and ''december''. When writing dates, they appear after the day and are often represented by Arabic numerals, and sometimes with Roman numerals (e.g., ''19. 5.'' or ''19. V.'' 'May 19th'). Older variants include ''januvarij'' 'January', ''februvarij'' 'February', and ''marcij'' 'March'.

Standard archaic names

Many of the names in the standardized set of archaic Slovene month names first occur in the Škofja Loka manuscript, written in 1466 by Martin of Loka. Peterlin grave in Rob Slovenia

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

'(sun) shining through';Snoj, Marko. 2003. ''Slovenski etimološki slovar''. 2nd edition. Ljubljana: Modrijan.Vaštíková, Zuzana. 2012. ''Slovinské a české pranostiky''. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Ústav slavistiky. modern Slovene *

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years 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 (th ...

perhaps 'dry' or 'cut' (influenced by ''svečnica'' 'Candlemas'); modern Slovene *

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

'(earth) dry (enough for cultivation)'; modern Slovene *

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...

'small grass'; modern Slovene *

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

'large grass'; modern Slovene *

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

'flowers' (a translation of German ''Rosenmonat''); modern Slovene *

July July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...

'small sickle' (i.e., reaping); modern Slovene *

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

'large sickle' (i.e., reaping); modern Slovene *

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

'nodding (fruit)'; modern Slovene *

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

'wine flowing' (a translation of German ''Weinmonat''); modern Slovene *

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...

'falling leaves'; modern Slovene *

December December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days. December got its name from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was or ...

'biting (cold)' or 'clumped (earth)'; modern Slovene

Variant archaic month names

Multiple systems have been used in various Slovene-speaking regions, some of which were based on the names of saints (e.g., ''jurjevščak'' 'April', literally 'St. George's'), numbers (e.g., ''prvnik'' 'January', literally 'first'), or other features (e.g., ''vetrnik'' 'March', literally 'windy'). In the

Prekmurje dialect Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect, East Slovene, or Wendish ( sl, prekmurščina, prekmursko narečje, hu, vend nyelv, muravidéki nyelv, Prekmurje dialect: ''prekmürski jezik, prekmürščina, prekmörščina, prekmör ...

of Slovene, the following system was attested: ''sečen'' 'January', ''süšec'' 'February', ''mali traven'' 'March', ''velki traven'' 'April', ''risalšček'' 'May', ''ivanšček'' 'June', ''jakopešček'' 'July', ''mešnjek'' 'August', ''mihalšček'' 'September', ''vsesvišček'' 'October', ''andrejšček'' 'November', ''božič'' 'December'.

By month

;January Additional names include ''brumen'' (< Italian ''bruma'' 'depth of winter'),Pleteršnik, Maks. 1894/95. ''Slovensko-nemški slovar''. Ljubljana: Knezoškofijstvo. ''sečen'' (related to ''suh'' 'dry' or from ''sek-'' 'cut'), ''ledenec'' and ''lednik'' (< ''led'' 'ice'), ''mali božičnjak'' and ''malobožičnjak'' (< ''mali božič'' 'Epiphany'),Reindl, Donald F. 1995. Evidence for the Germanic Origins of Some Slovene Month Names. ''Slovene Studies'' 15: 169–178. ''prozimec'' (probably contamination of ''prosinec'' with ''zima'' 'winter'), ''prvnik'' (< ''prvi'' 'first'), and ''zimec'' (< ''zima'' 'winter'). The name ''prosinec'', associated with

millet bread Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets also ...

and the act of asking for something, was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript. ;February Additional names include ''sečan'' and ''sečen'' (both related to ''suh'' 'dry' or from ''sek-'' 'cut'), and ''sečni mesec'' (< ''sek-'' 'cut'). The name ''svečan'' may relate to

icicle An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water falling from an object freezes. Formation and dynamics Icicles can form during bright, sunny, but subfreezing weather, when ice or snow melted by sunlight or some other heat source (such as ...

s 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 ''sičan'', written as ''svičan'' 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 ''sečan'', 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 ''talnik'' (related to ice melting), but it has not stuck. The idea was proposed by the priest and patriot

Blaž Potočnik Blaž may refer to: * Blaž (given name), a masculine given name * Blaž, Bosnia and Herzegovina Blaž ( sr, Блаж) is a village in the municipality of Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated ...

. A name of February in Slovene was also ''vesnar'', after the mythological character

Vesna Vesna (Cyrillic: Весна) was a mythological female character associated with youth and springtime in early Slavic mythology, particularly within Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Slovenia. Along with her male companion Vesnik, she was asso ...

. ;March Additional names include ''brezen''Bajec, Anton et al. 2000. ''Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika''. Ljubljana: DZS. and ''breznik'' (both from ''breza'' 'birch'),Bezlaj, France (ed.). 1977–2007. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika''. 5 volumes. Ljubljana: SAZU. ''ebehtnik'' (< Middle High German ''ebennaht'' 'equinox'), ''gregorščak'' (< ''Gregor'' '(Saint) Gregory'), ''marcij'', ''postnik'' (< ''post'' 'Lent'), ''traven'' (< ''trava'' 'grass'), and ''tretnik'' (< ''tretji'' 'third'). The name ''sušec'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript. ;April Additional names include ''brezen'' (< ''breza'' 'birch') and ''jurijevščak'' (< ''Jurij'' '(Saint) George'). The name ''mali traven'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript. ;May Additional names include ''cvetičnik'' and ''cvetnar'' (both < ''cvet'' 'flower'), ''majnik'', ''mlečen'' (< ''mleč'' 'chicory'), ''risalščak'' and ''rusalščak'' (< ''risale/rusale'' 'Pentecost'), ''rožni mesec'' (< ''roža'' 'flower'), and ''sviben'' (< ''sviba'' '(flowering of) dogwood'). The name ''veliki traven'' was first written in the Škofja Loka manuscript. ;June Additional names include ''bobov cvet'' (literally, '

broad bean ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...

blossom') ''ivanjščak'' and ''šentjanževec'' (both referring to

Saint John's Day In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

), ''klasen'' (< ''klas'' 'head of grain'), ''kresnik'' (< ''kres'' 'bonfire', referring to

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

), ''prašnik'' (literally, 'stamen'), ''rožencvet'' and ''rožni cvet'' (both 'flower blossom'), and ''rženi cvet'' ('rye blossom'). ;July Additional names include ''jakobnik'' and ''jakobščak'' (both referring to Saint James's Day), ''pšeničnik'' (< ''pšenica'' 'wheat'), and ''žetnik'' (< ''žetev'' 'reaping'). ;August Additional names include ''kolovožnjak'', ''medmašnik'', ''mešnjak'', ''otavnik'', ''porcijunkula'', ''velikomašnjak'', and ''vršenj''. ;September Additional names include ''jesenik'', ''jesenščak'', ''kozoprsk'', ''miholščak'', ''poberuh'', and ''šmihelščnik''. ;October Additional names include ''kozoprsk'', ''listopad'', ''lukovščak'', ''moštnik'', ''obročnik'', ''repar'', ''repnik'', ''vinec'', and ''vinščak''. ;November Additional names include ''andrejščak'', ''gnilolist'', ''listognoj'', ''martinščak'', ''vsesvečnjak'', and ''vsesvečak''. ;December Additional names include ''kolednjak'' and ''veliki božičnjak'' (< ''božič'' 'Christmas').

References

External links