[feb-roo-er-ee, feb-yoo‑] 
| the second month of the year, ordinarily containing 28 days, but containing 29 days in leap years. Abbreviation: Feb. |
[r] sounds, as shown above. The common pronunciation [feb-yoo-er-ee], with the first [r] replaced by [y], is the result of dissimilation, the tendency of like sounds to become unlike when they follow each other closely. An additional influence is analogy with January. Although sometimes criticized, this dissimilated pronunciation of February is used by educated speakers and is considered standard.| Feb·ru·ar·y (fěb'rōō-ěr'ē, fěb'yōō-) n. pl. Feb·ru·ar·ies Abbr. Feb. The second month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. See Table at calendar. [Middle English Februarie, from Latin Februārius (mēnsis), (month) of purification, from februa, expiatory offerings, possibly of Sabine origin.] Usage Note: Although the variant pronunciation (fěb'yōō-ěr'ē) is often censured because it doesn't reflect the spelling of the word, it is quite common in educated speech and is generally considered acceptable. The loss of the first r in this pronunciation can be accounted for by the phonological process known as dissimilation, by which similar sounds in a word tend to become less similar. In the case of February, the loss of the first r is also owing to the influence of January, which has only one r. |
February
second month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Februalia, the Roman festival of purification. Originally, February was the last month of the Roman calendar.
Learn more about February with a free trial on Britannica.com.