Prose: date=October 2008

August is the 8th month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.

This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the ancient Roman calendar, which started in March about 735 BC under Romulus. It became the eighth month either when January and February were added to the beginning of the year by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC or when those two months were moved from the end to the beginning of the year by the decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers disagree). It was renamed in honor of Augustus in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, which fell in this month. Lore claims August originally had 29 days in the Roman Republican calendar. Augustus took two days from February and gave it to August when Sextilis was renamed in his honor. See Month lengths how this commonly believed lore was proven wrong.

August's flower is the gladiolus or poppy, and its birthstone is the peridot.

Other names

• In Arabic, the month is called أغسطسص ʾUġusṭuṣ or آب ʾĀb; usage varies from place to place and person to person.
• In Croatian, the month is called kolovoz
• In Dhivehi, the month is called Augastu
• In Dutch the month is called Augustus
• In Estonian the month is called august
• In Finnish, the month is called elokuu, meaning "month of reaping" or literally, "month of life".
• In French, the month is called août derived from the Latin augustus.
• In Greek, the month is called Avgoustos (Αύγουστος')
• In Hungarian, the month is called augusztus
• In Bahasa Indonesia, the month is known as Agustus
• In Irish, August is known as Lúnasa, a modern rendition of Lughnasadh, from the god Lugh.
• In Japanese, the month is called hachigatsu (八月), meaning, simply, "eighth month."
• In Latvian, the month is called Augusts
• In Lithuanian, the month is called rugpjūtis
• In Polish, the month is called sierpień, meaning "month of sickle".
• In Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, the month is called agosto.
• In Romanian, the month is called august
• In Russian, the month is called avgust (авгуcт)
• In Swedish, the month is named augusti, literally plural of the Latin augustus - "the venerable".
• In Thai, the month is called Sing-ha-kom representing the Singha (lion)
• In Turkish, the month is called Ağustos
• In Welsh, the month is called Awst