February
/ˈfɛbrʊəri
/ /ˈfɛbjʊəri /noun (plural Februaries)
The second month of the year, in the northern hemisphere usually considered the last month of winter: even in February the place is busy the coldest February in 40 years...
- For some reason, I was expecting March to be a better month than January or February.
- I returned on a February morning to see what sort of training was being carried out.
- The selection process and interviews will take place over this month and February.
Usage
Note that February is spelled with an r following the Feb-. Precise speakers insist that this r should be pronounced, but this is not easy, and most people replace the r following Feb- with a y sound: Feb-yoo- rather than Feb-roo-. This is now becoming the accepted standard.
Origin
Middle English feverer, from Old French feverier, based on Latin februarius, from februa, the name of a purification feast held in this month. The spelling change in the 15th century was due to association with the Latin word.