A Catalogue of Useless Facts

"Calendar"

"Calendar"
- etymology / history -

​​​​The word "calendar" derives from the Latin term "kalendae" (or "calends" in Middle English). In the old Roman calendar, the day of the new moon was known as the calends, and signified the start of a new month. When calendar reform desynchronized the months from the lunar cycle, the calends remained as the first day of each month, regardless of the moon phase.

Several modern languages retain the phrase "Greek calends" based on a Latin expression; the Ancient Greeks didn't observe a calends, so the Greek calends was a day that would never actually arrive. "It will be done on the Greek calends" would be comparable to saying "I'll do it on the 12th of Never."

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Sources ▼

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html
https://youtu.be/UqTLOA9MP5s