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

There is a reality competition series, Squid Game: The Challenge, which has been renewed for a second season on Netflix, and the mobile game, Squid Game: Unleashed was released in December 2024. —Christopher Rudolph, People.com, 28 June 2025

Attorneys claim Harbaugh allowed Matt Weiss to continue working as co-offensive coordinator in a national playoff game after Weiss was seen viewing private information on a computer in December 2022. —Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 28 June 2025

The roughly nine-month trial — which was briefly delayed for a day when Hugo-Martinez suffered chest pains and was rushed to the hospital while Hoover was on the stand — ended in December with a federal jury convicting Hoover on four counts of tax evasion. —Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 June 2025

This latest round of payments come after $72 million was issued out to players in the first round of refunds, sent in December 2024. —Rebecca Schneid, Time, 28 June 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.