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definitions

ides

[ahydz]
|

noun (used with a singular or plural verb)

(in the ancient Roman calendar) the fifteenth day of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the other months.

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Origin of ides

1300–50; Middle English < Old French < Latin īdūs (feminine plural); replacing Middle English idus < Latin

-ides

a Greek plural suffix appearing in scientific names: cantharides.

Origin of -ides

< Greek, plural of -is, suffix of source or origin. See -id1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ides

Contemporary Examples of ides

Historical Examples of ides

  • I vow to thee a troop of pipe-players upon the Ides of June.

    The Lion's Brood

    Duffield Osborne

  • A troop of pipe-players to Minerva on the Ides of June, if we win!

    The Lion's Brood

    Duffield Osborne

  • The months were divided into three parts, kalends, nones and ides.

  • Raeburn smiled at her ides of felicity—no cares, and plenty of dogs and cats!

    We Two

    Edna Lyall

  • Was I to know, that to-day is the Ides, and to-morrow the day after?

    Aurelian

    William Ware

British Dictionary definitions for ides

ides

noun

(functioning as singular) (in the Roman calendar) the 15th day in March, May, July, and October and the 13th day of each other monthSee also calends, nones

Word Origin for ides

C15: from Old French, from Latin īdūs (plural), of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ides
n.

(plural) early 14c., "middle day of a Roman month," from Old French Ides (12c.), from Latin idus (plural), a word perhaps of Etruscan origin. The 15th of March, May, July, and October; the 13th of other months. "Debts and interest were often payable on the ides" [Lewis].

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper