Etymologically
Log in

calendar

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkæl.ən.də/, US /ˈkæl.ən.dɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English kalender, borrowed from Anglo-Norman calender, corresponding to Old French calendier (“list, register”) (modern French calendrier),[2][3][4] from Latin kalendārium (“account book”),[2][5][3] from kalendae (“the calends”), the first day of the Roman month, when debts fell due and accounts were reckoned (see calends).[5][3] Etymonline derives this from calāre (“to announce solemnly, call out”), as the priests did in proclaiming the new moon, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The system by which the beginning, length and divisions of the year are fixed: about 1205 in the OED,[6] probably before 1200 in Layamon's Brut in Barnhart.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Rome new moons were observed rather than calculated, and on seeing one the priests declared how many days were left until the nones.[5] A table showing the months and days of a given year is from about 1340,[6] the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[5] The early Church took the word for its register of saints and their feast days,[5] and a list of canonized saints is from 1601.[6] A list or register of any kind is from about 1400,[6] a chronological list of documents with summaries from the late 15th century,[5][6] and a list of prisoners for trial at the assizes from 1591.[6] The -ar spelling is from the 17th century.[5] A schedule of events and an ordered list of matters to be dealt with are modern senses.[7][8] The verb, to enter in a calendar, is from the late 15th century.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1205 – the system of divisions of the year.[6][2]
  • c. 1340 – a table of months and days.[6]
  • late 15th century – a list of documents.[5]
  • 1591 – a list of prisoners for trial.[6]
  • 1601 – a list of saints.[6]
  • 17th century – the spelling calendar.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A system of reckoning time that fixes the beginning, length and divisions of a year.
  2. A table or chart showing the months, weeks and days of a year.
  3. A schedule or list of events, appointments or cases.
  4. A chronological list of documents, with summaries.

Verb

  1. To enter in a calendar; to schedule.

Word family

  • calendrical
  • calendar clock
  • calendar day
  • calendar month
  • calendar year
  • calends
  • calender
  • intercalate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press