One of the hottest months of the year in the northern hemisphere is August, which is known as agosto in Italian.
agosto
August
Agosto is the eight month (ottavo mese) of the year according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars and it is made up of 31 days (trentun giorni). As is the case with all months of the year, agosto isn’t capitalised in Italian as it is in English.
The month was named after the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, who reigned from 27 BC to 14 AD. In the Roman calendar, the month of August was originally called Sextilis, but it was renamed Augustus in his honour.
Augustus‘ name comes from the Latin word augustus, which means amplified or increased. It’s derived from the Latin word augos, meaning an increase or augmentation, combined with an old neuter s-stem.
Il mese di agosto dura trentun giorni.
The month of August is 31 days long.
The star sign (segno zodiacale) for those born in agosto is Leone (Leo) if you were born between August 1st and August 22nd or Vergine (Virgo) if you were born after the 22nd.
Non visitare le Cinque Terre ad agosto. C’è troppa gente!
Don’t visit the Cinque Terre in August. It’s too crowded!
From agosto, we get the word Ferragosto, an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15th. It originated as a celebration of the middle of the summer and was associated with the harvest season in ancient Rome. Today, it is a widely observed public holiday in Italy, marked by festivals, parades, feasts, and various outdoor activities. Many Italians take advantage of this holiday to go on vacation, visit family and friends, or simply relax and enjoy the summer weather.
August 15th is also the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (l’Assunzione della Vergine Maria al cielo), also known as the Assumption Day or simply the Assumption. It is a Christian feast day commemorating the belief that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed into heaven, both body and soul, at the end of her earthly life.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
