If you’re interested in finding out exactly how to abbreviate the word months, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to dive into the common abbreviation for this English language word, learn how to use it and define it, and examine some sample sentences to provide more context for the word.
First, let’s look at the correct abbreviation for months.
There is only one abbreviation:
Mos.
This would be considered the plural abbreviation for months. The singular abbreviation for the word month would be Mo. A period should be included in this abbreviation for the majority of written situations. Either upper or lower case may be used.
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According to Dictionary.com, the word month is defined as:
month[ muhnth ] noun
1. Also called calendar month. any of the twelve parts, as January or February, into which the calendar year is divided.
2. the time from any day of one calendar month to the corresponding day of the next.
3. a period of four weeks or 30 days.
4. Also called solar month. one-twelfth of a solar or tropical year.
5. Also called lunar month. the period of a complete revolution of the moon around the earth, as the period between successive new moons (synodic month), equal to 29.531 days, or the period between successive conjunctions with a star (sidereal month), equal to 27.322 days, or the period between successive perigees (anomalistic month), equal to 27.555 days, or the period between successive similar nodes (nodical month or draconic month), equal to 27.212 days.
6. an unusually long period of time of indefinite length.
Synonyms for Months
● age
● date
● day
● era
● future
● generation
● hour
● life
● moment
● occasion
● pace
● past
● point
● present
● season
● second
● space
● stage
● term
● turn
● week
● while
● year
● allotment
● bit
● bout
● chronology
● clock
● continuance
● duration
● epoch
● eternity
● extent
● go
● infinity
● instance
● instant
● interval
● juncture
● lastingness
● lifetime
● shift
● span
● spell
● stint
● stretch
● tempo
● tide
● tour
● life span
● many a moon
The History of the Word
Month, the singular form of months, comes from the Old English word monað, which is derived from the Proto-Germanic word menoth. This is the source for a variety of older versions of the word month, such as Old Saxon’s manoth, Dutch’s maand, Old High German’s manod, modern German’s monat, Old Norse’s manaðr, Old Frisian’s monath, and Middle Dutch’s manet. These words are believed to be related to the word menon or “moon,” as the month is the interval between one new moon to the next new moon, a concept repeated in Old English.
In all the romance languages, the cognates of month refer to calendar months. In Germanic languages, however, derivatives of the word month are used for a variety of idiomatic expressions. For example, “a month of Sundays” is a nineteenth-century German expression that means “a very long time.”
When to Use This Abbreviation
This abbreviation is usually used in shorthand, note-taking, editing, etc. It also occurs in newspaper or other publication headlines, as well as places where brevity and space are a concern. Outside of such situations, months is almost never abbreviated, especially in formal writing.
Examples of the Word and Abbreviation in Context
The English month abbreviations include Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, and Dec. It’s not that hard to remember them, as they’re all three-letter abbreviations. Other languages use more complicated abbreviations, like Febbr, Fevr, Ott, Okt, Sierp, Sett, Wrzes, Dub, Dez, Grudz, and Magg.
Out of all the months of the year, September was my favorite.
“Do you speak Portuguese?” asked Agosto. “Yes, I learned some basic phrases last month,” said Genn.
The proper MLA abbreviation for the word months is mos.
Marzo sat at the small desk and did his best to help Wendy with her homework assignment. “Okay, do you remember all the names of the months?” he asked. Wendy furrowed her brow. “I remember all of the days of the week, but I forget the names of the months.”
Director’s Note: This scene takes place 2 mos. later on a Tues in New York
Mai, you’ll receive your paycheck the 2nd day of the mo.
It took months for my grandmother to recover from her surgery.
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.
