<P> February observances in Ancient Rome include Amburbium (precise date unknown), Sementivae (February 2), Februa (February 13--15), Lupercalia (February 13--15), Parentalia (February 13--22), Quirinalia (February 17), Feralia (February 21), Caristia (February 22), Terminalia (February 23), Regifugium (February 24), and Agonium Martiale (February 27). These days do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar . </P> <P> Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year, and in leap years February gained a 29th day . Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March,..., December) within a year - at - a-glance calendar . Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, the second month was February whenever all twelve months were displayed in order . The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years and thus contained a 29 - day February . </P> <P> Historical names for February include the Old English terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale - monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung . In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice . In Polish and Ukrainian, respectively, the month is called luty or лютий, meaning the month of ice or hard frost . In Macedonian the month is sechko (сечко), meaning month of cutting (wood). In Czech, it is called únor, meaning month of submerging (of river ice). </P> <P> In Slovene, February is traditionally called svečan, related to icicles or Candlemas . This name originates from sičan, written as svičan in the New Carniolan Almanac from 1775 and changed to its final form by Franc Metelko in his New Almanac from 1824 . The name was also spelled sečan, meaning "the month of cutting down of trees". </P>

February was called solmonath by the anglo-saxons. what does this mean