Aprilis

Ink and watercolor pencil on pape. 30X35 cm

April comes from the latin verb "aperire", meaning to open, because in this month is when the earth opens later will bear fruit.

Some antiquarians, as well as Ovid in his poem on the Roman calendar, provide an alternate derivation from Aphrodite, the Greek counterpart of Venus whose festival began the month. Apru might be derived from the conjectured Etruscan form of the name, which would be Aprodita, but among the Etruscans, the month was called Cabreas. Some modern linguists derive Aprilis from Etruscan Ampile or Amphile, based on a medieval gloss, conjecturing an origin in the Thessalian month name Aphrios. An Indo-European origin has also been proposed, related to Sanskrit áparah and Latin alter, "the other of two", referring to its original position as the second month of the year. Varro and Cincius both reject the connection of the name to Aphrodite, and the common Roman derivation from aperio may be the correct one.

In the latter years of Nero's reign, the Senate briefly renamed April Neronius in his honor.