janv

Janv is the common abbreviation for janvier, the French word for January. It is used in calendars, forms, schedules, and data records to denote the first month of the year. In French typography, the standard practice is to write months in lowercase, and the abbreviation typically includes a trailing period, written as janv. In some contexts, such as computer fields or color-coded lists, the period may be omitted and the form appears as janv or even JANV in uppercase.

January is the first month of the Gregorian calendar and contains 31 days. In the Gregorian system, the year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. The month follows December of the previous year and precedes February. The name janvier, like its English counterpart January, derives from the Latin Ianuarius, named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. Over time, January became the starting point of the year in most European calendar traditions.

In usage, janv serves as a compact shorthand in contexts where space is limited or where a formal date format is required but full month names are impractical. It is one of several standard French month abbreviations, alongside févr. for février, mars for mars, and so on. While janv. is widely understood in French-language materials, formal prose often favors the full form janvier, especially when writing out dates in full sentences.