January
noun
Jan·u·ary
ˈjan-yə-ˌwer-ē 
-ˌwe-rē
plural Januaries or Januarys
: the first month of the Gregorian calendar
Examples of January in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The gold timepiece comes A-lister approved, too: Irish actor Barry Keoghan wore the reference to the Governors Awards in January.
—
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 29 Apr. 2024
Any bills for a stay in the city will also come at a premium during the Olympics—in January consumer interest group UFC–Que Choisir reported Paris hotels were cashing in on the sporting fever by hiking prices to over $1,000 for opening night.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2024
In January, Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, announced that the book had sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. alone across multiple formats.
—Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2024
Kane has now been reunited with his family, owner Jamie DiGiovanni shared on Facebook on April 26, ending a distressing saga that began in early January.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2024
In January, Stray launched the Prosocial Ranking Challenge, a competition with a $60,000 prize fund aiming to spur development of feed-ranking algorithms that prioritize socially desirable outcomes, based on measures of users’ well-being and how informative a feed is.
—Elana Klein, WIRED, 29 Apr. 2024
Robertson remembered that conversation when Morgan got into a car wreck in January 1961.
—Jeff Maysh, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2024
Starting in January 2023, meanwhile, the U.S. Copyright Office began a year-long study on copyright and AI.
—Paul Sweeting, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024
In January, immigration was the top problem cited by American voters in a Gallup poll.
—USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2024
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 29 Apr. 2024
Any bills for a stay in the city will also come at a premium during the Olympics—in January consumer interest group UFC–Que Choisir reported Paris hotels were cashing in on the sporting fever by hiking prices to over $1,000 for opening night.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2024
In January, Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, announced that the book had sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. alone across multiple formats.
—Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2024
Kane has now been reunited with his family, owner Jamie DiGiovanni shared on Facebook on April 26, ending a distressing saga that began in early January.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2024
In January, Stray launched the Prosocial Ranking Challenge, a competition with a $60,000 prize fund aiming to spur development of feed-ranking algorithms that prioritize socially desirable outcomes, based on measures of users’ well-being and how informative a feed is.
—Elana Klein, WIRED, 29 Apr. 2024
Robertson remembered that conversation when Morgan got into a car wreck in January 1961.
—Jeff Maysh, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2024
Starting in January 2023, meanwhile, the U.S. Copyright Office began a year-long study on copyright and AI.
—Paul Sweeting, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024
In January, immigration was the top problem cited by American voters in a Gallup poll.
—USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'January.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near January
Cite this Entry
“January.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/January. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
January
noun
Jan·u·ary
ˈjan-yə-ˌwer-ē
: the first month of the year
Etymology
from Latin Januarius "first month of the year," from Janus, a Roman god
Word Origin
Among the many gods worshipped by the ancient Romans was one named Janus. He was believed to have two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. Janus was associated with doors, gates, and all beginnings. Because of that, when the Romans changed their calendar and added two months to the beginning of the year, they named the first one Januarius to honor Janus. The English January comes from Latin Januarius.
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