December

noun

De·​cem·​ber di-ˈsem-bər 

dē-

: the 12th month of the Gregorian calendar

Examples of December in a Sentence

Her birthday is in late December.

This December was not as cold as the past few Decembers have been.

Recent Examples on the Web

According to federal investigators, Neves Velente was responsible for both the Brown University mass shooting that killed two students and injured nine and the murder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro, each of which occurred in December. —Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 7 Jan. 2026

Things became clearer on December 28, when Dreame released teaser images and confirmed that its first car would debut at CES 2026. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 7 Jan. 2026

This trend accelerated in December as the flag state emerged as a critical shield against drone strikes and vessel seizures. —Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 7 Jan. 2026

But Daniels kept getting hurt this season, managing to start only seven games and getting shut down in December after a series of injuries to his left knee, right hamstring and left elbow. —Arkansas Online, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Decembre, from Old English or Anglo-French, both from Latin December (tenth month), from decem ten — more at ten

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for December

• dismember
• nonmember
• november
• remember
• september
• ember
• member

Kids Definition

December

noun

De·​cem·​ber di-ˈsem-bər 

: the twelfth month of the year

Etymology

Middle English Decembre, December "last month of the year," from early French decembre (same meaning), from Latin December, literally, "tenth month," from decem "ten" — related to decimal, dime

Word Origin

In the first calendar used by the ancient Romans, the year began with the month of March. The Romans called the tenth month of the year December, using the Latin word decem, meaning "ten." When the word was borrowed into early French, it became decembre. That was also how it was first spelled when it came into Middle English. In time, however, the English word was changed to match the original Latin in spelling and in having a capital letter.