The month was named after the Latin word ventosus 'windy'.
Ventôse was the third month of the winter quarter (mois d'hiver).
It was decided to omit the circumflex (accent circonflexe) in the names of the winter months, so the month was named Ventose instead of Ventôse.
Like all FRC months Ventôse lasted 30 days and was divided into three 10-day weeks called décades (decades).
Every day had the name of an agricultural plant, except the 5th (Quintidi) and 10th day (Decadi) of every decade, which had the name of a domestic animal (Quintidi) or an agricultural tool (Decadi).