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

Ahead of Trump's inauguration, Musk in December clashed with Trump's traditional hardline conservative base through his vocal support of the H-1B program, arguing the temporary work visa program is needed to attract global talent in in technology sectors. —Joey Garrison, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2025

World Liberty made its first purchase of Ondo’s coins in December, buying more than 130,000 of them. —Eric Lipton, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025

Later, realizing that astronauts who die in the line of duty also give the ultimate sacrifice, Congress extended the same tax forgiveness to astronauts who die in the line of duty after December 31, 2002. —Ashley Case, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025

The bank reported profit of 106 million euros for the December quarter. —Jenni Reid, CNBC, 29 Apr. 2025

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.