Nivôse (; also ''Nivose'') was the fourth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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 Frimaire () was the third month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word ''frimas'', which means ''frost''. Frimaire was the third month of the autumn quarter (''mois d'automne''). It started between 21 Novemb ...

and precedes the

Pluviôse Pluviôse (; also ''Pluviose'') was the fifth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''pluviosus'', which means ''rainy''. Pluviôse was the second month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''), star ...

. 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 of ...

on 24 October 1793. On 24 November the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

accepted the names with minor changes. So it was decided to omit the circumflex (''accent circonflexe'') in the names of the winter months. So the month was named ''Nivose'' instead of ''Nivôse''.

Historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

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