February

February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the leap day. February is the third and last month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, February is the third and last month of meteorological summer, being the seasonal equivalent of August in the Northern Hemisphere. February is preceded by the first month of the year, January, and is succeeded by the third month of the year, March.

Pronunciation

"February" can be pronounced in several different ways. The beginning of the word is commonly pronounced either as or ; many people drop the first "r", replacing it with, as if it were spelled "Febuary". This comes about by analogy with "January", as well as by a dissimilation effect whereby having two "r"s close to each other causes one to change. The ending of the word is pronounced in the US and in the UK.

History

The Roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term februum, which means "purification", via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old lunar Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period of the year. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 713 BC. February remained the last month of the calendar year until the time of the decemvirs, when it became the second month. At certain times February was truncated to 23 or 24 days, and a 27-day intercalary month, Intercalaris, was occasionally inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the seasons.
February observances in Ancient Rome included Amburbium, Sementivae, Februa, Lupercalia, Parentalia, Quirinalia, Feralia, Caristia, Terminalia, Regifugium, and Agonium Martiale. These days do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar.
Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order. The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years, but also contained a 29-day February.
Historical names for February include the Old English terms Solmonath and Kale-monath as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice. In Polish and Ukrainian, respectively, the month is called luty or лютий, meaning the month of ice or hard frost. In Macedonian the month is , meaning month of cutting. In Czech, it is called únor, meaning month of submerging.
In Slovene, February is traditionally called svečan, related to icicles or Candlemas. This name originates from sičan, written as svičan in the New Carniolan Almanac from 1775 and changed to its final form by Franc Metelko 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 by the Slovene Society of Ljubljana to call this month talnik, but it did not stick. The idea was proposed by a priest, Blaž Potočnik. Another name of February in Slovene was vesnar, after the mythological character Vesna.

Patterns

Having only 28 days in common years, February is the only month of the year that can pass without a single full moon. Using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis for determining the date and time of a full moon, this last happened in 2018 and will next happen in 2037. The same is true regarding a new moon: again using Coordinated Universal Time as the basis, this last happened in 2014 and will next happen in 2033.
February is also the only month of the calendar that, at intervals alternating between one of six years and two of eleven years, has exactly four full 7-day weeks. In countries that start their week on a Monday, it occurs as part of a common year starting on Friday, in which February 1st is a Monday and the 28th is a Sunday; the most recent occurrence was 2021, and the next one will be 2027. In countries that start their week on a Sunday, it occurs in a common year starting on Thursday; the most recent occurrence was 2015 and the next occurrence will be 2026. The pattern is broken by a skipped leap year, but no leap year has been skipped since 1900 and no others will be skipped until 2100.

Astronomy

February meteor showers include the Alpha Centaurids, the March Virginids, the Delta Cancrids, the Omicron Centaurids, Theta Centaurids, Eta Virginids, and Pi Virginids.

Symbols

The zodiac signs of February are Aquarius and Pisces.
Its birth flowers are the violet, the common primrose, and the Iris. Its birthstone is the amethyst, which symbolizes piety, humility, spiritual wisdom, and sincerity.