After spending entirely too much time trying (unsuccessfully) to get Damian to translate the literal meaning of the names of Polish months into English, I finally went and looked them up myself! What I found out was super interesting as the name of each month relates to a symbolic word for the season.

Styczeń (January)

Styczeń comes from the verb stykać which means to meet or to connect. This is the time when the old years meets the new year.

Luty (February)

Luty comes from the Old-Polish adjective luty which means frosty of freezing. This month is very cold!

Marzec (March)

There are two possibilities on where this word is derived from. The first is from the Latin god of war, Mars. The second option is that is comes from the Polish verb marznać meaning to get cold.

Kwiecień (April)

Kwiecień comes from the word kwiat that means flower. April is a wonderful month to see blooming flowers in Poland!

Maj (May)

Maj, like the English May, comes from the Roman goddess Maia who represents growth.

Czerwiec (June)

The month czerwiec comes from the word czerw which is the larvae of a bee. Centuries ago in Poland, this larvae was dried and used to make a red dye, which was exported around the world. Even the word for red in Polish, czerwony, comes from these little bugs.

Lipiec (July)

Lipiec comes from the word lipa in Polish which is a linden tree. This tree blooms during this month in Poland.

Sierpień (August)

The name of this month comes from the name of the tool sierp, which is a sickle that is used for cutting hay or grass.

Wrzesień (September)

Wrzesień is adapted from the name of the plant wrzos, known as heather in English. The heather blooms beautifully during this month!

Październik (October)

Październik comes from the word paździerze meaning the dry stalks of flax.

Listopad (November)

Listopad is probably my favorite named month. It comes from the word liście meaning leaves and padać meaning to fall. Combined this month means falling leaves.

Grudzień (December)

The month grudzień comes from the word gruda, meaning a frozen and hardened piece of ground.

I hope you found these half as interesting as I did! To learn more about other unique pieces of Polish culture and history, check out some of the articles on our blog.