# January

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/ · frequency rank #851

## Definitions
1. The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.
2. A female given name transferred from the month name [in turn from English].

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der.
Latin iānus
Latin Iānus
Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
Proto-Italic *-āsios
Latin -arius
Latin Iānuāriusder.
Anglo-Norman geneverbor.
Middle English Janevere
Middle English Januarie
English January
From Middle English Januarie, januari, re-latinised forms of Middle English Janevere, Ieneuer, from Anglo-Norman genever, from Latin Iānuārius (“(month) of Janus”), a compound of Iānus ("Janus") + -ārius (adjectival suffix), with the first element perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeh₂- (“to go”). Doublet of Gennaro.

## Easily confused with
- **jaguar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/jaguar-vs-january)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ajnuary`, `janaury`, `jannuary`, `januarry`, `januaryy`, `januayr`, `januray`, `jaunary`, `jjanuary`, `jnauary`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/january