March Vocabulary Words

March 3rd is National Anthem Day, honoring The Star-Spangled Banner, America's national song. The words come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, commemorating the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, and were set to the music of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith. The U.S. Navy adopted the song in 1889, and in 1931 Congress passed a resolution making the song the national anthem.

March 15th is known as the Ides of March, after Idus Martiae, a religious observance in Ancient Rome that involved sacrificing a sheep to the god Jupiter. The date was made famous by the assassination of the dictator Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E. The event was later commemorated in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Assassin comes from Arabic via French.

March 14 is known as Pi Day, because the date is written 3/14 and the mathematical constant known by the Greek letter Pi (π) begins with 3.14. This number, which is irrational — meaning it goes on forever without repeating — is used to calculate the area and circumference of circles, among other things.

The first day of spring typically falls on March 20th (give or take). This is the vernal equinox, the point halfway between summer and winter, when day and night in the northern hemisphere are the same length. The word equinox comes from the Latin aequinoctium, meaning — very appropriately — "equal night."

The third week of March is National Introverts Week, honoring all those who prefer solitude or small groups over big public events and parties. While the world seems to reward those who crave the public eye, many of the richest and most influential people are self-proclaimed introverts, who say they get more and better work done when they're alone. The word introvert comes from the Latin verb introvertere, which literally means "to turn inward."

The month of March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Martial describes a number of things associated with war and fighting, like martial arts (unarmed combat) and martial law (control of a society by its military). In early Roman history — the years following Rome's founding in the eighth century B.C.E. — the calendar had only ten months, of which March was the first. January and February were added later, replacing a 50-day period previously just known as "winter."

The first two weeks in March are known as National Procrastination Week, a time in which celebrants put off and postpone important tasks until later. If you're busy, feel free to celebrate the holiday in April, or June, or whenever you get around to it. Procrastinare is a Latin verb meaning, unsurprisingly, "put off until tomorrow."

March is Women's History Month. One of the key events in modern American history was the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1920, which granted women the right to vote. For decades before its passage, women known as suffragists demonstrated, marched, and lobbied for the change. The word comes from the Latin suffragium, which referred to both the act of voting and the right to do so.

In the northern hemisphere, spring begins on March 20th or 21st: the vernal equinox. On this day, and again on September 21–22, the sun is directly in line with Earth's equator, exactly halfway in its cycle between the two extremes of summer and winter. Vernal can be used to describe all manner of springy things, from bright green colors to flowers to optimism. Ver means "spring" in Latin.