June—abbreviated Jun or Jun.—is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. June is 30 days long, and comes after May and before July. June marks the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and contains the summer solstice, the day with the most daylight hours. In the Southern Hemisphere, June is the start of winter and contains the winter solstice, the day with the fewest hours of daylight out of the year.
The Atlantic hurricane season—when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the north Atlantic Ocean—begins on 1 June and lasts until 30 November. The East Asian rainy season is also generally considered to commence during this month. Multiple meteor showers occur annually in June, including the Arietids, which are among the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year, and last between 22 May and 2 July, peaking in intensity on 8 June.
Numerous observances take place in June. Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, commences in several countries. In Catholicism, this month is dedicated to the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and known as the Month of the Sacred Heart. The most well-known month-long observance in the United States in June is Pride Month, which is the celebration of LGBT individuals and the advancement of their civil liberties.
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world.[1]: 304 [2] Containing 30 days, June succeeds May and precedes July. It is one of four months to contain 30 days, alongside April, September and November; herein June lies between April, the fourth month of the year, and September—the ninth month of the year.[1]: 304 June is abbreviated as Jun, and may be spelled with or without a concluding period (full stop).[3]
Etymologically, June is ultimately derived from the Latin month of Iunius, named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno (Latin: Iūnō). The name June entered English in the 13th century via the Anglo-Norman join, junye and junie. It was also written in Middle English as Iun and Juin, while the spelling variant Iune was in use until the 17th century.[4][5]
June originates from the month of Iunius (also called mensis Iunius)[6] in the original Roman calendar used during the Roman Republic. The origin of this calendar is obscure.[a] Iunius, originally the fourth month, had 29 days alongside Aprilis ("April"), Sextilis (later renamed Augustus "August"), September, November and December.[1]: 377–378 It is unclear when the Romans reset the course of the year so that Ianuarius ("January") and Februarius ("February") came first—thus moving Iunius to the sixth month of the year—but later Roman scholars generally dated this to 153 BC.[10] In ancient Rome, the period from mid-May through mid-June may have been considered inauspicious for marriages. The Roman poet Ovid claimed to have consulted the flaminica Dialis, the high priestess of the god Jupiter, about setting a date for his daughter's wedding, but was advised to wait until after 15 June.[11] The Greek philosopher and writer Plutarch, however, implied that the entire month of June was more favorable for weddings than May.[12]