May
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.
May is a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore May in the Southern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent of November in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.
No other month begins or ends on the same day of the week as May in any year. January of the following year always begins and ends on the same day of the week as May of the current year.
The month May was named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. Conversely, the Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for "elders," and that the following month (June) is named for the iuniores, or "young people" (Fasti VI.88).
In Slovenian, the best-established traditional name for May is veliki traven, the month "of big grass". It is first recorded in the Škofja Loka manuscript of 1466. Numerous other names for the month include majnik, cvetnar, and rožni mesec. The latter two relate to the blossoming of flowers.
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