Word.ws English Dictionary

menology

menology noun: the study of months; the names and system of months within a given calendar.

Noun

menology (plural menologies)

  1. (uncommon) The study of months; the names and system of months within a given calendar.
    • ...in Afghanistan, we find two systems of month-names. One of these... is of Indian origin..., while the other is borrowed from the Mohammedan menology...1907, Louis H. Gray, “On Certain Persian and Armenian Month-Names...”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 28, page 332
    • The Romans themselves believed Romulus had given them a 10-month lunar calendar, but modern scholars consider the actual original state of Roman menology uncertain.
  2. (capitalized, often) Synonym of menologium, a monthly record, particularly in Assyriology and certain Christian contexts.
    • In the Mart. of Donegal, this is the day of St. Comgall (Comhgall), placed in the Menology on the 27th June, as having no day.1892, Richard Stanton, A Menology of England and Wales..., p. 645
    • The menology of the tenth century has the formula ...1935, Stephen Langdon, Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars, page 86
    Synonyms:
    menologium
  3. (rare) The content of a menologium, a liturgical calendar or hagiography.
    • Their readings from the holy Scriptures and from the fathers, from the menologies of the church and the teachings of its principal pastors, are a great, continually swelling hymn of praise to the rule of providence and to the progressive actualization of the eternal plan of salvation.1992, Waltraut Stein translating Edith Stein as "The Prayer of the Church", Great Catholic Writings, p. 45
    • The menologies of St Symeon mostly repeat earlier accounts but include some small additions as well.

Proper noun capitalized: Menology

Menology

  1. Alternative letter-case form of menology, particularly in reference to particular editions.
    • In the Mart. of Donegal, this is the day of St. Comgall (Comhgall), placed in the Menology on the 27th June, as having no day.1892, Richard Stanton, A Menology of England and Wales..., p. 645

Examples of menology in a sentence

  • The Menology of St Symeon mostly repeats earlier accounts but includes some small additions as well.
  • The duration of the rites of mourning over nine days is... supported by references in a Standard Babylonian menology...2003, Andrew R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic..., p. 53

Synonyms of menology

Forms of menology

pluralmenologies
alternative formMenology

Origin of menology

Partially from meno- (“month-”) + -ology (“study, account”) and partially from anglicization of Medieval Latin mēnologium and Byzantine Greek μηνολόγιον (mēnológion), q.v. Doublet of menologion, menologium, and menologe.

Questions about menology

What does menology mean?
Menology means the study of months; the names and system of months within a given calendar.
How do you use menology in a sentence?
The Menology of St Symeon mostly repeats earlier accounts but includes some small additions as well.
What part of speech is menology?
Menology can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of menology?
The plural of menology is menologies.

Words near menology in the dictionary

  1. menologies
  2. menologion
  3. menologions
  4. menologium
  5. menologiums
  6. menology
  7. menometrorrhagia
  8. menometrorrhagias
  9. Menominee
  10. Menominee County
  11. Menominees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: menology (page history and authors); Menology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “menology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/menology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.