If you’re in Europe, it’s likely you’re taking an extended holiday. If you’re anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, you might just be trying to stay cool. August is the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar, and the sixth month of the Roman calendar. Its original name was Sextilus, Latin for “sixth month.” In 8 BCE, the month was named in honor of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor.

　　八月快要过去了，在欧洲，八月份人们通常会放一个长假，但如果你在北半球的其他地方，你可能只想凉快点儿。八月是格里高利历的第八个月，但是是古罗马历法的第六个月。它之前的名字叫做Sextilus，这个词是拉丁语“第六个月”的意思。在公元前8世纪，该月份的名称是由第一位罗马帝王奥古斯都·恺撒的名字而来的。

　　Who is the man August was named for?

　　奥古斯都(August)这个名字后来成为了谁的名字?

　　The emperor was a man of many names. He was born Gaius Octavius, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar. He took the extended name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in 44 after Caesar’s assassination. Though in English texts, he was often referred to simply as Octavian.

　　这位帝王有很多个名字，他出生时候的名字叫做盖乌斯·屋大维，是尤利乌斯·恺撒的曾外甥，因此在公元前44年，凯撒被刺杀后，他取了凯撒的名字，叫做盖乌斯·尤利乌斯·凯撒·屋大维。而在英语语境里，他的名字则被简称为屋大维。

　　Then in 31, he defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra to gain control over the empire. Finally in 27, when he was named emperor, he was given the honorary title Augustus.

　　公元前31年，他打败了马克·安东尼和克利奥帕特拉，以掌控帝国。最终在公元前27年，被任为帝王，并获得了奥古斯都的荣誉称号。

　　What does it mean to be august?

　　成为奥古斯都意味着什么?

　　When we describe something as august, we are saying it is majestic and inspires reverence or admiration. The word can also take the form of an adverb (augustly) and a noun (augustness). August also relates to augury, the act of divination (telling the future), particularly by the behavior of birds and animals and the examination of their entrails and other parts. Augurs were the official Roman soothsayers, whose job was not to tell the future so much as to determine if the Roman gods approved of a planned course of action.

　　除了表示月份，“august”也有“威严的、庄严的”之意，当我们描述一些宏伟壮大的、让人敬佩的事物时，我们常用august一词来形容。这个词的副词和名词形式分别是“augustly”和“augustness”。“august”还有“征兆、预兆”之意，也就是和预测(未来)相关的行为，尤其是从鸟类和动物的行为、体内和身体的其他部分观察到的现象。Augurs还是古罗马时期的占卜官，其工作不是预知未来，而是探测古罗马众神是否应允了计划的行动方案。

　　And here’s a usage not heard often: an auguste is a “type of circus clown who usually wears battered ordinary clothes and is habitually maladroit or unlucky.” May your August be filled with favorable omens and devoid of unlucky circus clowns.

　　关于“august”还有一种说法，就是他是指“经常穿着破旧衣服的马戏团小丑，常常不合时宜，也很不幸。”愿你的八月皆是吉兆，愿你不会遇见不幸的小丑。