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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, the fifth in the early Julian and one of four months with a length of 30 days. April ( ) is commonly associated with the season of spring in parts of the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa. ==Name and origin== The Romans gave this month the Latin name ''Aprilis''〔"April" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 497.〕 but the derivation of this name is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the verb ''aperire'', "to open", in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open", which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁανοιξις (anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her equivalent Greek goddess name Aphrodite (''Aphros''), or from the Etruscan name ''Apru''. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, ''Aper'' or ''Aprus''.〔Jacob Grim ''Geschichte der deutschen Sprache''. Cap. "Monate"〕 April was the second month of the earliest Roman calendar, before ''Ianuarius'' and ''Februarius'' were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it also was given 29 days. The 30th day was added during the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC, which produced the Julian calendar. The Anglo-Saxons called April ''Oster-monath'' or ''Eostur-monath''. The Venerable Bede says in ''The Reckoning of Time'' that this month ''Eostur'' is the root of the word Easter. He further states that the month was named after a goddess ''Eostre'' whose feast was in that month. It is also attested by Einhard in his work, Vita Karoli Magni. St George's day is the twenty-third of the month; and St Mark's Eve, with its superstition that the ghosts of those who are doomed to die within the year will be seen to pass into the church, falls on the twenty-fourth. In China the symbolic ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood took place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to April. In Finnish April is ''huhtikuu'', meaning ''slash-and-burn moon'', when gymnosperms for beat and burn clearing of farmland were felled. In Slovene, the most established traditional name is ''mali traven'', meaning the month when plants start growing. It was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript.' Aprilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She is identified with the Roman goddess Venus 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「April」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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