ad kalendas Graecas
Latin
editEtymology
editAttributed by Suetonius in Lives of the Twelve Caesars to Caesar Augustus. The kalends (also written calends) were specific days of the Roman calendar (the first of the month), not of the Greek, and so the “Greek Kalends” would never occur.
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ad kaˈlen.daːs ˈɡrae̯.kaːs/, [äd̪ käˈɫ̪ɛn̪d̪äːs̠ ˈɡräe̯käːs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ad kaˈlen.das ˈɡre.kas/, [äd̪ käˈlɛn̪d̪äs ˈɡrɛːkäs]
Phrase
editDescendants
edit- → English: Greek calends (calque)
- → French: aux calendes grecques (calque)
- → Italian: alle calende greche (calque)