calends

American  

[kal-uhndz] / ˈkæl əndz /

Or kalends

noun

(usually used with a plural verb)

1. the first day of the month in the ancient Roman calendar, from which the days of the preceding month were counted backward to the ides.

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calends British  

/ ˈkælɪndz /

plural noun

1. the first day of each month in the ancient Roman calendar

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Etymology

Origin of calends

1325–75; Middle English kalendes, alteration (with native plural suffix) of Latin kalendae, perhaps equivalent to cal- (base of calāre to proclaim) + -end- formative suffix (perhaps for *-and- ) + -ae plural ending

Example Sentences

He fell asleep in the Lord, the sixteenth of the calends of April, 1620.

From Pius IX. And His Time by Dawson, Æneas MacDonell

Each of them was divided into unequal parts, by the days which were known as the calends, nones, and ides.

From Astronomical Myths Based on Flammarions's History of the Heavens by Blake, John F.

I, Ronan, the son of Karadeucq, finished writing the above narrative two years after the death of Queen Brunhild, towards the end of the calends of October of the year 615.

From The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles A Tale of the First Communal Charter by Sue, Eugène

Having carefully examined the region of Cibao, Columbus returned on the calends of April, the day after Easter, to Isabella; this being the name he had given to the new city.

From De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera by MacNutt, Francis Augustus

"I was sent to Præneste, with my troop of horse, before the calends of November; and returned not until the Ides."

From The Roman Traitor, Vol. 2 by Herbert, Henry William