The names of the months of the year in the Tigrinya language and their meanings is as follows:
Méskérém (መስከረም): It is the first month of the Geez calendar. The name for this month is the result of the combination of two Geez words: መሴ (mése) and ከረም (kérém). “Mése” (መሴ) means “went away”, “passed” while “kérém” (ከረም) translates into Winter. Therefore, “Méskérém” means “the Winter has passed”. The rainy winter season in most parts of Eri-Ethiopia runs its course through the months of June, July and August. “Méskérém” Being the month that starts on the evening of September 10/11, it is the month that marks the termination of the rainy Winter season of Krémti and the start of the beautiful, mild spring season of Qew’ii (ቀውዒ).
Thiqi’mti (ጥቅምቲ): It is the 2nd month of the traditional Eri-Ethiopian calendar. The name of the month comes from the Geez word ጠቀመ (Tékémé), which translates into “of benefit” or “of use”. Thus, Thiqi’mti (ጥቅምቲ) means the useful or beneficial month. It received this designation because in most parts of Eri-Ethiopia, it is the month that many crops ripen and farmers begin harvesting.
Kh’dar (ሕዳር): It is the 3rd month of the Geez calendar. The name of the month is derived from the Geez word ሓደረ (Khadéré), and it means “to spend the night”. Thus, Kh’dar (ሕዳር) means the month where nights are spent outdoors. This is because this month being at the height of the harvest season, a large part of the Eri-Ethiopian population pass its nights in farmfields and threshing-floors, in order to keep watch against wild animals such as porcupines, wild hogs, and other predators that could destroy their ready crops.
Takh’sas (ታሕሳስ): It is the fourth month of the Ethio-Eritrean native calendar. Its name comes from the Geez word ታሓሠሠ (takhasésé), which translates into “fetch up”, “finish up”, “wind up”, etc. Thus, Takh’sas means the finishing or winding up month. This is because this month marks the end of the harvest season, wherein the gathering-in of the late crops is finished.
Th’ri (ጥሪ): It is the fifth month of the native Eri-Ethiopian calendar. Its name comes from the Geez word ነጠረ (néthéré), whose noun form is ነጥሪ (néth’ri). It means “to leap”, “to be high”, “to be bright” among others. This month is a month of plenty and of rejoicing in Ethio-Eritrea, as it occurs immediately after the harvest season (October through December). The barns are full, and people spend this month in celebrating weddings and other festivities. That is why it is called the month of leaping.
Some people say that the root word for Th’ri (ጥሪ) is the Geez word ጠሐር (thékhér), which indicates wellbeing, implying that this month is the period of good physique and strength resulting from the abundance of provisions.
Lékatit (ለካቲት): It is the sixth month of the Geez calendar. Its name is derived from the Geez word ከተተ (kétété), which means “to put-in”, “to come-in”, “to complete”, among others. This is the month when reality sets in and people start thinking about saving for the dry months after the long festivities of the previous month. Ethio-Eritreans occupy themselves with storing grain for themselves and tucking away straw for their livestock at this time of the year. So this month was called the putting-in month.
Mégabit (መጋቢት): It is the seventh month of the native Ethio-Eritrean calendar. Its name comes from the Geez word መገበ (mégébé), which means “to feed”, “to sustain”. At this period of the year, although it is the height of the dry Hagai or summer season in most parts of Ethio-Eritrea, people are still able to live without difficulty on the produce they collected from the previous harvest. That is why it is called the month that feeds or sustains.
Miyaziya (ሚያዝያ): It is the eighth month of the Geez calendar. The root word for the name of this month is derived from the Geez word መሓዘ (mékhazé), which means “to accompany”, “to befriend”, “to catch”, etc. By this time, the dry season would have made its impact felt. So people need to hold tight and to get close to each other to make it to the good times. Hence its name “መሓዝ ኢያ”, that is the month to make companions.
Ginbot (ግንቦት): It is the ninth month of the native Ethio-Eritrean calendar. Its name comes from the Geez word ገነበ (génébé), which means “to build”, “to dig”, “to work”, etc. This month is the end of the autumn or Tsidiya season in most parts of Ethio-Eritrea. So farmers begin preparing their farmfields for the upcoming summer rains. Thus it is called the month of digging or work.
Séné (ሰነ): It is the tenth month of the Geez calendar. Its name is derived from the Geez word ሰናይ (Senay), which means “good”, “nice”, etc. In this month the summer rains first arrive. The parched earth begins to heal, and grass and all sorts of vegetation start to grow. That is how it came to be called the nice month.
Khamlé (ሓምለ): It is the eleventh month of the native Ethio-Eritrean calendar. Its name comes from the Geez word ሓመለ (khamélé), which means “to be green”, “to be verdant”, etc. During this period of the year, there is enough mosture that allows the growth of vegetables and all sorts of verdure. In Ethio-Eritrea where the keeping of gardens is rare, this is also the month when people enjoy vegetable meals from nature’s garden. So it was called the verdant month.
Nékhasé (ነሓሰ): It is the twelfth month of the Geez calendar. Its name is derived from the Geez word ኣናሕሰየ (anakh’séyé), which means “to show mercy”, “to spare”, etc. In this month rain falls in torrents, which is eesential for the needs of farmers and for filling water reservoirs. So to express the gratitude felt for the abundance of water received during this period, this month was given the designation Nékhasé, or the month of mercy.
Pagume (ጳጉሜ): It is the last and irregular month of the year. Unlike the other months, the name for this month is not derived from the Geez language. Instead it originated from the Greek word “epagómenos”, which means the added on days.1 The reason for the addition of this abnormal month with its five or six days length to the Geez calendar is to make the calendar year agree with the astronomical year.2 On average, an astronomical year is 365.25 days long.