What does "calends" mean?
Often with initial capital: the first day of a month.
Calends
/ˈkæləndz/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Often with initial capital: the first day of a month.
- Grammar: calends is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: calendar.
- Useful contrasts: ides.
- Usage evidence: He postponed it to the Greek calends.
How to use "calends"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "calends" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "calends" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "calends" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "calends" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "calends" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "calendar" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Often with initial capital: the first day of a month. plural, plural-only
"The third day before the calends of February is 30 January, the third calends of March is 27 or 28 February, and the third of the calends of May is 29 April."
- 2 plural of calend form-of, obsolete, plural, rare
- 3 Often with initial capital: the first day of a month.; The first day of a month of the Roman calendar. Ancient-Rome, historical, plural, plural-only
- 4 A day for settling debts and other accounts. broadly, plural, plural-only
"To expedite theſe knots were worthy a learned and memorable Synod; while our enemies expect to ſee the expectation of the Church tir'd out with dependencies and independencies how they will compound, and in what Calends."
- 5 Synonym of Rosh Hodesh (“the Jewish festival of the new moon, which begins the months of the Hebrew calendar”). Judaism, broadly, obsolete, plural, plural-only
"The feasts of the Israelites were the Sabbath; the first day of each month, called in our translations calends, or new-moon; the three great feasts of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, instituted in memory of the three greatest blessings they received from God, […]"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Synonym of calendar; (figurative) an account, a record. plural, plural-only, rare
"[N]ow doth [John] Oldcastle shine: / Him for a Saint within your Kalends hold."
- 7 The first day of something; a beginning. figuratively, obsolete, plural, plural-only
"Whoever shall sell a calf or a yearling, let him be answerable against the scab from the calends of winter until the Feast of Patrick."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"He postponed it to the Greek calends."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "calends"?
Common synonyms include: calendar.
How do you use "calends" in a sentence?
He postponed it to the Greek calends.
How do you pronounce "calends"?
Pronounced /ˈkæləndz/.
Etymology
From Middle English calendes, calendas, calendis, kalandes, kalendas, kalendes, kalendez, kalendis, kalendus (also in the singular forms calende, kalend, kalende), from Latin kalendās, accusative plural of kalendae (“first day of a Roman month”), an archaic variant of calandae, from calandus (“which is to be called or announced solemnly”), the future passive participle of calō (“to call, announce solemnly”) (referring to the Roman practice of proclaiming the first days of the lunar month upon seeing the first signs of a new crescent moon), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, cry, summon”). Although the singular form calend (now obsolete, rare) appeared in English (and compare Old English calend, kalendus (“calends; a month”)), no singular form was used in Latin as recurring days of the calendar were always referred to in the plural. Sense 2 (“a day for settling debts and other accounts”) refers to the Roman practice of fixing the calends as the day for debts to be paid.