English Reference

Word

august

Phoneticsau·gust

/ˈɑɡəst/

Definitions

01the month

A1

n. the eighth month of the year, coming after July and before September.

n. the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar. Usually uncountable, though it can take an article when referring to a specific year's instance.

“The weather is usually very hot here during the month of August.”

“August remains the peak season for European tourism, as many families take advantage of the school holidays to travel south for the sun.”

02grand and respected

C1

adj. impressive, grand, and respected by other people.

adj. inspiring reverence or admiration; of majestic dignity or noble character. Note the shift in stress to the second syllable.

“The king walked into the room with an august and serious expression.”

“The scholars were humbled to be invited into such an august institution, which had preserved the nation's history for over four centuries.”

Formal · Literary

Usage

This adjective is typically placed before the noun it modifies.

Antonyms

undignifiedlowly

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-der. Latin augustus Latin Augustusder. Old English Augustusder. Middle English Augustder. English August Early Middle English August(us), re-Latinized from Old English Agustus, from Late Latin Agustus, from Latin augustus (“month of August”), from the agnomen Augustus (“venerable”) of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, possibly from either Old Latin augos (“increase”), from Proto-Italic augos, from Proto-Indo-European base *h₂ewg- (“to increase”); or Latin avis (“bird”), referring to divination by observing bird flights, singing, feeding or entrails + garrīre (“to chatter”).

In some cases a month name from English. In other cases inspired by the common German given name August, from Latin Augustus.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related words

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very common
Updated

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