proverb · Words worth keeping
April and May are the keys of the year.
April and May are the keys of the year.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying treats April and May as decisive months for what the rest of the year will yield. Keys picture their conditions as opening or closing later possibilities.
What the words are saying
The two months are given control of the year’s outcome. Read as seasonal lore, the image expresses the importance the saying attaches to early growing conditions. It does not establish that those months determine every harvest or that the calendar applies everywhere. A useful broader reading considers which early conditions matter to a task while keeping later influences and uncertainty visible.
Everyday example
A group checks the preparation on which a later event depends without assuming that a good start guarantees its outcome.
When to use it
Use it to discuss early conditions within seasonal lore or a carefully stated analogy.
What it does not mean
This is not a forecast or a universal agricultural rule.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 35 · April
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English