As spring brings everything to life, the biting cold gives way and the fertile earth opens up; it is said that the month was named April because the season is in full bloom, and Venus, the nurturing goddess, lays her hand upon the month
Although the astronomical equinox and the start of spring fall in March, April is usually considered the true first month of spring.
The name “April,” though not used in Polish, is widely used in many European countries due to the influence of Latin and Neo-Latin languages (French mostly).
The origin of the word “april” is uncertain; during Ceasar’s nephew Octavianus’ rule (1st century AD), the Romans were already uncertain about the month’s etymology.
The poet Ovidius, who was ambitious enough to write an erudite yet playful poem about the months of the Roman calendar, humorously combines two interpretations of the name “april” that are still in vogue today: even then, the word seemed to go hand in hand with the verb “aperire” (to open, to be open), as it is the month that “opens” to the warm season. Just as flowers, blooming, open themselves to the world.
But the word “april” is also linked to a more spiritual and primal layer, connected to the healing and feminine Mother Earth.
The goddess of love, the Roman Venus, has always been considered one of the deities associated with fertility and genesis or natural creation.
Therefore, setting aside the Latin name for Venus and starting from the Greek Aphrodite (or Aphròs, for short) and passing through the Etruscan *Apru, we could thus arrive at the month “April.”
The current month would then be the month of Venus.
This is a possibility that cannot be discarded that easily, given that part of the Roman calendar derives its names from the pantheon of gods most dear to the Roman world.
Mars (and from it “March”) was the god of war, but also the spiritual father of Rome. The twin brothers of the legendary city foundation (Romulus and Remus) were, in fact, the sons of a priestess and the god.
Venus, on the other hand, was the one who had given birth to Aeneas, the Trojan exile who had finally found shelter on the shores of Latium, merging his fate with that of the local peoples, and ultimately ruling over the Latins (the ancestors of the Romans).