Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The second month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The second month of the year, containing twenty-eight days in ordinary years and twenty-nine in leap-years. See bissextile.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The second month in the year, said to have been introduced into the Roman calendar by Numa. In common years this month contains twenty-eight days; in the bissextile, or leap year, it has twenty-nine days.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The second month of the Gregorian calendar, following January and preceding March.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the month following January and preceding March

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Februarie, from Latin Februārius (mēnsis), (month) of purification, from februa, expiatory offerings, possibly of Sabine origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Re-Latinized from Middle English feoverel, from Old French feverier, from Latin februārius, of the month of purification, from februa, the Roman festival of purification, plural of februum; perhaps from Latin febris ("fever"), from Proto-Indo-European base *dhegh-, to burn.

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Examples

  • Adding to the stress, 46% of business owners have met their capital needs by slicing their own pay, according to a survey of 1,000 small business owners out in February from the University of Maryland and Web services company Network Solutions.

    Month 2: For business owners, finances are on their minds 2010

  • The Yellow Sea coast of Korea in February is a place of sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds and the little junk set out northward in 14-below-zero weather.

    JACK LONDON'S WAR 2010

  • The lead inspector overseeing the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the inquiry into the allegations, which were dismissed in February, is being revisited to look at manager misconduct.

    Feds Reopen Probe Into Medical Scanner Approvals AP 2010

  • Carnival, a days-long festival that Haiti celebrates each year in February, is known for fantastic costumes that celebrate death and dark rituals, among other things.

    Halloween, Haitian Style Arden Dale 2010

  • A three hundred dollar electric bill for a house that only has two reasonably warm rooms in February is a bit of a hardship for people who need housing assistance.

    Matthew Yglesias » Creating Green Rental Homes 2010

  • This escapes me – Hannity and Inhofe think snow in February in Virginia is, somehow, ample reason to debunk global climate change, but the absence of snow in Vancouver in February is not?

    Think Progress » McCain Backs Down To Hannity: ‘I Never Quite Understood’ Global Warming 2010

  • I don't know how anyone thinks that releasing a big blockbuster in February is a path to success, because almost every February release is always an instant failure.

    Bryan Singer's Valkyrie Reshooting Three More Scenes « FirstShowing.net 2008

  • Do you realize that Patzcuaro in February is the middle of winter and it's damn cold.

    Page 3 2007

  • Do you realize that Patzcuaro in February is the middle of winter and it's damn cold.

    Page 3 2007

  • Do you realize that Patzcuaro in February is the middle of winter and it's damn cold.

    Page 3 2007

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