The word for 'April' in Italian is Aprile and is pronounced [ap-reel-eh]. Etymology
Both the English and Italian words for 'April' are thought to share the same etymological background.
The Latin word aprilis was the name of the second month of the Ancient Roman calendar and was dedicated to the goddess of love, Venus. The word aprilis is thought to be an amalgamation of the word mensis (meaning month) and a variation of the prefix Apru.
Apru is believed to be of Etruscan origin, and is most likely a derivative of the Greek Aphrodite.
History of the calendar
The calendar that is used in modern Italy, (and across most of the world for that matter), has actually taken many different forms. One version is the 'Roman calendar' which was supposedly created by Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome. This version originally had only ten months, with the year beginning with March - the month of the vernal equinox.
In 45BC, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar into a form known as the 'Julian Calendar'. This version had a year of 365 days divided into 12 months, and was devised as an approximation of the solar or tropical year.
Finally, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the civil calendar we currently use today. This calendar is also known as the 'Gregorian Calendar' and was introduced by Papal Decree on the 24th of February 1582.
Other months
The translation of other months into Italian is listed below:
January: Gennaio
February: Febbraio
March: Marzo
April: Aprile
May: Maggio
June: Giugno
July: Luglio
August: Agosto
September: Settembre
October: Ottobre
November: Novembre
December: Dicembre
