ides

¹ American  

[ahydz] / aɪdz /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. (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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-ides ² American  

1. a Greek plural suffix appearing in scientific names.

   cantharides.

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ides British  

/ aɪdz /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of ides¹

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

Origin of -ides²

< Greek, plural of -is, suffix of source or origin. See -id ¹

Example Sentences

On Monday, a French court rendered a judgment perhaps more appropriate for the ides of March rather than the first of March.

From Slate • Mar. 2, 2021

And any silly ides of emancipation flew out of the window.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2019

They called a meeting on the ides of March 1783 to discuss taking the army to Philadelphia and demanding Congress provide pay and supplies.

From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2017

THE ides of March—the 15th of the month, on which five big states voted at around the midpoint of the primary calendar —was bound to be a day of reckoning.

From Economist • Mar. 17, 2016

The ides of March dawned on Friday with a green and brown sky, the color of the water in a dying pond.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt