Writing Dates in Latin
This lesson will teach you how to write dates in Latin. It is advisable that you read the pages on Measuring Time and the Calendar to complement this lesson. A list of the declension for the months of the year used in writing dates, and the full paradigm of mensis (month) and dies (day- pronounce it as deeas) is included HERE.
DATES
There are three ways of expressing or writing dates in Latin.
Whether the day falls on fixed dates
- Whether the day falls just before or just after a fixed date
- Whether the day falls on intermediate dates.
1- Dates that fall on fixed dates.
- Kalendae, the first day of the month.
- Nonae, the 5th day of the month.
- Idus, the 13th day of the month.
Exceptions:
For the months of March, May, July and October the nonae falls on the 7th day and the idus on the 15th day.
The names Kalendae (or Calendae), nonae and idus are all pluralia tantum, feminine nouns, see their declension paradigms HERE.
Bear in mind that in the English language the names of the months are all nouns, whereas in Latin they are always adjectives of the 1st Class or 2nd Class, hence they can be masculine, feminine or neutral. January, February, March, May, June, July and August are 1st Class, all the others are 2nd Class.
Rule 1:
When the day falls on a fixed date
When a date falls on a fixed day of the month, the construction uses the ablative case. Because Calendae, Nonae and Idus are all f. gender, the ablative of the month must also be feminine.
For example:
# | English | Latin | literal meaning |
1 | 1st January | Kalendis Ianuariis | on (at) the Calends of January |
2 | 5th February | Nonis Februariis | on (at) the Nones of February |
3 | 7th March | Nonis Martiis | on (at) the Nones of March |
4 | 15th March | Idibus Martiis | on (at) the Ides of March |
5 | 7th April | Nonis Aprilibus | on (at) the Nones of April |
6 | 13th December | Idibus Decembribus | on (at) the Ides of December |
Rule 2:
When the day falls on a day before or after a fixed date
When the day falls on the eve or the day after a fixed date, the construction uses the word Pridie (eve) or Postridie (day after), both in the accusative case.
For example:
# | English | Latin | literal meaning |
1 | 31st December | Pridie Kalendas Ianuarias | on (at) the eve of January. |
2 | 2nd January | Postridie Calendas Ianuarias | on (at) the day after the 1st of January |
3 | 14th March | Pridie Idus Martias | on (at) the eve of the Ides of March |
4 | 16th March | Postridie Idus Martias | on (at) the day after the Ides of March |
5 | 4th April | Pridie Nonas Apriles | on (at) the eve of the Nones of April |
6 | 6th April | Postridie Nonas Apriles | on (at) the day after the Nones of April |
7 | 6th October | Pridie Nonas Octobres | on (at) the eve of the Nones of October |
8 | 8th October | Postridie Nonas Octobres | on (at) the day after the Nones of October |
Rule 3:
When the day falls on days between fixed dates
This is a bit more difficult to explain. The construction uses an expression like: before the day V of the Nones of April. The expression can also be made in the accusative case or the ablative case. The choice is yours.
Here is the exact formula:
Accusative case: ante + diem + Roman Numeral + fixed date
Ablative case: die + Roman Numeral + ante + fixed date
Example:
3rd March (equivalent to five days before the Nones)
Acc.: ante diem quintum Nonas Martias.
Abl.: die quinto ante Nonas Martias.
If you are wondering why there are five days between the 3 March and 7 March, the day of the Nones, the reason is that in counting the days to arrive to the Nones, you have to include the starting day (dies a quo) and the arrival day (dies ad quem). In this case the strating day is the 3rd and the arrival day the 7th, the day of the Nones, hence, counting, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th makes five days. It sounds intriguing, but attractive. Note that the words ante diem can be abbreviated to a.d. ( not A.D.), and the ordinal adjective is normally expressed as a Roman Numeral, but it is read as described above.
Obviously, owing to the fact that we do not use this system daily, counting up mentally is not at all easy; you will need, therefore, to refer to a calendar showing the appropriate month (either any 30-days month or any 31-days month, and count the number of days intervening between the starting date and the arrival date. You will find a calendar showing all the months of the year in the Calendar page of this website. A dedicated table is being provided under the Reference section, the page name is: Dates Table.
Examples:
# | English | Days Count | Latin | literal meaning |
1 | 20th January | 13 | a.d. XIII Kal. Febr., or simply, XIII Kal. Febr. | normal abbreviated forms |
2 | 20th January | 13 | ante diem tertiumdecimum Kalendas Februarias | 13 days before the Calends of February |
3 | 20th January | 13 | Die tertio decimo ante Kalendas Februarias | 13 days before the Calends of February |
4 | 9th July | 7 | a.d. VII Id. Iul. ante diem septimum Idus Iulias | 7 days before the Ides of March |
5 | 9th July | 7 | VII Id. Iul. Die septimo ante Idus Iulias | 7 days before the Ides of March |
6 | 17th August | 16 | a.d.XVI Kal. Sept. ante diem sextusdecimum Calendas Septembres | 16 days before the Calends of September |
7 | 17th August | 16 | XVI Kal. Sept. Die sextusdecimo ante Calendas Septembres | 16 days before the Calends of September |
8 | 24th October | 9 | a.d. IX Kal. Nov. ante diem nonum Kalendas Novembres | 9 days before the Calends of November |
9 | 24th October | 9 | IX Kal. Nov. Die nono ante Kalendas Novembres | 9 days before the Calends of November |
10 | 5th May | 3 | a.d. III Non. Mai. ante diem tertium Nonas Maias | 3 days before the Nones of May |
11 | 5th May | 3 | III Non. Mai. Die tertio ante Nonas Maias | 3 days before the Nones of May |
12 | 29th November | 4 | a.d. IV Cal. Dec. ante diem quartum Calendas Decembres | 4 days before the Calends of December |
13 | 29th November | 4 | IV Cal. Dec. Die quarto ante Calendas Decembres | 4 days before the calends of December |
14 | 15th December | 18 | a.d. XVIII Kal. Ian. ante diem duodevicesimum Kalendas Ianuarias | 18 days before the Calends of January |
15 | 15th December | 18 | XVIII Kal. Ian. Die duodevicesimo ante Kalendas Ianuarias | 18 days befoer the Calends of January |
Abbreviations:
Ian.
Febr.
Mart.
Apr.
Mai.
Iun.
Iul.
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Kal. - Kalendas
Cal. - Calendas
Non.- Nonas
Id. - Idus
Grammatical analysis of 1
ante: prep., invariable
diem: sub., 5 Decl. m.&f., acc. sing. (N.B.- the plural is only masculine)
tertiumdecimum: numeral ordinal adj., acc. sing. m. & n. (N.B.- the accusative of sextusdecimus in example 6 is sextusdecimum and not sextumdecimum!)
Kalendas: sub., 1st Decl., acc. pl. f.
Februarias: sub., 1st Cl. adj., acc. pl. f.
Pagina recensita: Pridie Kal. Sept. MMVIII