PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-december
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
12 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionarymw-december
December — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 139GRADE Asupports
The twelfth month literally means tenth.
The name preserves a Roman year that began in March. The calendar position moved; the inherited Latin name did not.
*dekm̥
*dekm̥ → decem → December → Decembre → December
Word OriginExplains December as the tenth month in a March-starting Roman year.
December dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING
022
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
opensupportsprobable
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.
EtymologyExplicitly preserves Old English or Anglo-French as alternative transmission routes.
resolvedsupportsestablished
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 OriginExplains the literal tenth-month name and the March-starting Roman year.
033
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 180supportsestablished
December → Decembre
Present-Day English → Middle English · orthographic continuation
- SOUND
- Middle English Decembre is respelled December under renewed Latin influence and standardized capitalization.
- MEANING
- The month identity remains while its calendar position is twelfth.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word OriginExplains the Middle English spelling and later restoration toward Latin.
EDGE 181supportsprobable
Decembre → December
Middle English → Latin · borrowing via competing routes
- SOUND
- The Latin month name reaches Middle English through Old English or Anglo-French transmission; the exact route is not resolved by the reviewed source.
- MEANING
- The named tenth month is retained as the last/twelfth month after calendar reordering.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
EtymologyExplicitly gives Old English or Anglo-French as alternative routes from Latin.
EDGE 182supportsestablished
December → decem
Latin → Latin · compound derivation
- SOUND
- Latin December is formed on decem “ten” as a month name.
- MEANING
- The numeral ten identifies the tenth month in the early Roman year.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word OriginExplains December as Latin “tenth month” from decem and the March-starting Roman year.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
DecemberSOURCE-REPORTED
December
English lexicographic first-use report for December
OPEN WITNESS 44 ↗052
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
063
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 2supports
Roman world
Derives Latin December “tenth month” from decem “ten” and explains that the early Roman year began with March.
Word History: Etymology; Kids Word Origin · broadstage 3supports
English transmission from Old English or Anglo-French
Traces Middle English Decembre through Old English or Anglo-French to Latin and reports English use before the twelfth century.
Word History: Etymology and First Known Use · broadstage 4supports
Gregorian-calendar December usage
Documents the current twelfth-month sense while preserving the historical name built from Latin “ten”; it does not establish a single worldwide diffusion onset.
Definition and Kids Etymology · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
3 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.