SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
December — Word History
Explicitly preserves Old English or Anglo-French as alternative transmission routes.
Etymology- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 66
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
openprobable
Did English receive December through Old English or French?
The reviewed source allows either Old English or Anglo-French transmission from Latin and does not choose between them.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 66
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 QUESTION REMAINS OPEN.
- CONFIDENCE
- probable
- STATUS
- open
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster’s etymology states “from Old English or Anglo-French, both from Latin.”
The reviewed evidence does not yet warrant collapsing the competing or incomplete analyses into one secure answer.