SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
December — Word History
Explains the literal tenth-month name and the March-starting Roman year.
Word Origin- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 65
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Why does the twelfth month mean tenth?
The Latin name belongs to an early Roman year beginning in March, when December occupied the tenth position. Calendar reform changed the position while the name persisted.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 65
December
/dɪˈsɛmbər/ · noun
The twelfth month in the modern calendar; its inherited Latin name literally identifies it as the tenth month.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
1 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster explicitly explains the March-starting calendar and literal tenth-month name.
The contradiction is historical layering, not a mistranslation.