October

noun

Oc·to·ber äk-ˈtō-bər

: the 10th month of the Gregorian calendar

Examples of October in a Sentence

She started her job in early October. He started early in October. This will be our last October in New England. Sales are up for this October. The event happens every October.

Recent Examples on the Web Job gains in the past year have been robust, Cogbill said, noting that Arkansas has added 27,000 workers since October 2022. —

Andrew Moreau, arkansasonline.com, 18 Nov. 2023 Since the pair were first linked in October, Cooper has been seen out and about in Guest in Residence's Plaid Work Shirt as well as the brand's limited-edition Sambas sneaker collab with Adidas. —

Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 18 Nov. 2023 Thus far, there have been no reports of adverse events related to the October recall. —

Melissa Rudy, Fox News, 18 Nov. 2023 The union later extended the strike to parts warehouses and other factories to try to intensify pressure on the automakers until tentative agreements were reached late in October. —

CBS News, 18 Nov. 2023 Also in October, apparently frustrated by the long regulatory process, senior SpaceX officials, including William Gerstenmaier, the company’s vice president for build and flight reliability, conducted rare media interviews arguing that regulators aren’t keeping up with the pace of industry. —

WIRED, 18 Nov. 2023 In an October episode of the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Ed Sheeran opened up about smoking weed with Snoop backstage after a concert. —

Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 18 Nov. 2023 Since the 7th of October, only 217 trucks have entered in total. —

Dr. Jade Cobern, ABC News, 18 Nov. 2023 The three giant pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., will be going back to China slightly earlier than planned, the zoo announced in statement on Wednesday, October 25. —

Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 26 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'October.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Octobre, from Old English & Anglo-French; Old English October, from Latin, 8th month of the early Roman calendar, from octo; Anglo-French, from Latin October

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of October was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“October.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/October. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.

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Kids Definition

October

noun

Oc·to·ber äk-ˈtō-bər

: the tenth month of the year

Etymology

Middle English October, Octobre "the tenth month," from Old English October and early French octobre (both, same meaning), both from Latin October "the eighth month," from octo "eight"

Word Origin

According to its origin, the name October, which we know as the tenth month of the year, really means "eighth month." In the first calendar used in ancient Rome, the year had only ten months, starting in March and ending in December. The extra period between December and March was not considered part of the series of months. Later, when two extra months were added to the calendar, October became the tenth month but kept its old name. The Latin name came into Old English as october and into early French as octobre. It was spelled both ways in Middle English. But in time the influence of Latin fixed the spelling as october.