Daily AncestorKalends
The kalends (or calends) is the first day of a month in the Roman calendar, still used in Latin church records and inscriptions.
In the Roman way of dating, each month had three fixed days: the kalends (the 1st), the nones and the ides. Other days were counted inclusively toward the next fixed day, so a date might read the third day before the kalends of October.
Latin registers and memorial inscriptions sometimes keep this system. A date such as ante diem XV Kalendas Octobres falls in September, not October, because it counts toward October 1.
As seen in a recordDate in a Latin church register
die XV Kalendas Octobris
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Kalends." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/dates-calendar/kalends. Last checked 2026-10-01.