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March 2008Word History of the Month: IdesThanks to William Shakespeare, generations have remembered the soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar: "Beware the Ides of March!" We'd guess that few of us moderns recall precisely what the Ides are, however. Back in Caesar's day, everyone knew ides identified the 15th day of the months March, May, July, and October and the 13th day of all the other months. Ides had a more general sense too: it named not only the 15th or 13th day, but also the seven days preceding it, counting backward toward the nones. Nones named the ninth day before the ides. The first day of the month — from which days were counted backward toward the ides — was known as the calends. |