September

September has always marked a turning point in the year. Its very name still means ‘seven’, a fossil from the old Roman calendar when September was the seventh month, even though it is now our ninth. In Old English it was the holy month or the harvest month, and in Norse tradition the autumn month — each pointing to the same threshold between summer and winter.

These word cards trace September’s story through languages and centuries. From Latin numbers to Celtic harvest terms, from church Latin to classroom English, they show how a single word has travelled, and how different cultures have marked this month of gathering and beginning.

This page is accompanied by a photograph taken a few years ago at Westonbirt Arboretum, where autumn always begins in fire and colour — a fitting backdrop for September’s history.