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by cdot2 1146 days ago
Even more fun fact. "Thermidor" as well as the other months on the Republican Calendar don't have any root word. They were made up whole cloth and intended to sound like Greek or Latin.
3 comments

    Autumn:
        Vendémiaire (from French vendange, derived from Latin vindemia, "vintage"), starting 22, 23, or 24 September
        Brumaire (from French brume, "mist", from Latin brūma, "winter solstice; winter; winter cold"), starting 22, 23, or 24 October
        Frimaire (from French frimas, "frost"), starting 21, 22, or 23 November
    Winter:
        Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy"), starting 21, 22, or 23 December
        Pluviôse (from French pluvieux, derived from Latin pluvius, "rainy"), starting 20, 21, or 22 January
        Ventôse (from French venteux, derived from Latin ventosus, "windy"), starting 19, 20, or 21 February
    Spring:
        Germinal (from French germination), starting 20 or 21 March
        Floréal (from French fleur, derived from Latin flos, "flower"), starting 20 or 21 April
        Prairial (from French prairie, "meadow"), starting 20 or 21 May
    Summer:
        Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest"), starting 19 or 20 June
        Thermidor (or Fervidor*) (from Greek thermon, "summer heat"), starting 19 or 20 July
        Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruit"), starting 18 or 19 August
???

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar

Even more fun fact: 9 Thermidor Year II is also when Robespierre was ousted and his reign of terror ceased. He would be executed the next day.

This Republican calendar is also a source of headaches for students studying the French Revolution because while it didn’t stick, it stuck around long enough to matter and for historians to need to deal with it in primary sources.

That may be true for other months, but "therme" is Greek for heat and Thermidor would be the hottest month of the calendar.