august | Origin and meaning of the name august

in wordsmith •  6 years ago 

      

Auspicious August the 8th month of the year in the Julian & Gregorian calendars was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original 10mth Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC

It became the 8th mth when January & February were added to the year by King Numa Pompilius, thankfully, else how else would I celebrate my birthday!

In 8BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus Caesar & according to a Senatus consultum, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt

 The meaning of the word is "consecrated" or "venerable," which in turn is related to the Latin augur, meaning "consecrated by augury or auspicious" & further "is marked by majestic dignity or grandeur", "respected & impressive, grand & noble"

Middle English speakers inherited the name but it wasn't until the mid-1600s that "august" came to use in English, to refer to someone with imperial qualities

Certain meteor showers take place in August; Kappa Cygnids, Alpha Capricornids, Southern Delta Aquariids &The Perseids, a major meteor shower. The star cluster of Messier 30 is best observed around August

So you see, August is quite a month for success, celebrations & bangbang. 

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