Middle English Dictionary Entry
calendē̆r n.
Entry Info
| Forms | calendē̆r n. Also calendar(i, calendre. |
| Etymology | OF calendier (vr. of chalendier) & L kalendārium. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
The year (as divided into months, etc.); the ecclesiastical year (with saints' days, festivals, etc.); a system of chronological reckoning by which the periods of time are determined.
Associated quotations
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)7219 : Julius Scezar..makede þane kalender þe dihteð þane moneð & þe ȝer.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)4.199 : Þat tyme Iulius amended þe kalender [L kalendarium] and fonde þe cause of þe lepe ȝere.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)6.105 : Þe entringe of þe sonne..into þe signes beeþ a passed bakward by twelve dayes in oure kalender [Higd.(2): kalendary] now.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)125b/b : Þe dayes Egipciaci beþ I-set in þe calendder of holy chirche.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)24916 : Þat moneth..man clepes o þe yeir Decembre in þe kalunder [Göt: calundere; Phys-E: calender].
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)3.4373 : Ellevene þousand in þat holy place A man may fynde; and in oure kalendere Ful many maide parfit and entere.
- c1450 Capgr.Rome (Bod 423)24 : This lord eke with ful grete stodye corrected þe kalender..and þerfor was on of þe monthis of it named aftir him.
- a1475(?a1430) Lydg.Pilgr.(Vit C.13)15892 : And other seyntys fer and ner, Rehersyd in our kalender.
- a1500(1413) *Pilgr.Soul (Eg 615)5.2.90b : The compotister in the crafte of the kalender, he calleth seculum the tyme of an hundred yeer..he þat made the compote and þe kalender ne sawe neuere this worldes, but only the worldes be nethe.
- a1500(?c1425) Spec.Sacer.(Add 36791)50/22 : The trewthe of this mater comeþ of a narracion of the day, as it is hadde in the countyng of the kalender.
2.
(a) A table or chart of the year, a written calendar; (b) a list; a table of contents; (c) a mathematical or astronomical table.
Associated quotations
a
- c1400 *Chaucer Astr.(Brussels 4869)[1.11] 78b : Thanne folowen the names of the holy dayes in the kalender.
- a1425 He þat wol herkyn (Hrl 2320)p.82 : Takeþ a kalender wel sone And loke what tyme hyt ys of þe mone.
- (1447) Acc.St.Mary Thame in BBOAJ 1156 : The seconde [missal] begyns on the seconde folio in red..and containes a Dominical Kalendar.
- c1460(a1449) Lydg.MRose (Hrl 2255)43 : The sonne chaungith, so doth the pale moone, The aureate noumbre in kalenderys set for prime.
- c1450(c1370) Chaucer ABC (Benson-Robinson)73 : Kalenderes enlumyned ben thei That in this world ben lighted with thi name.
- (1452-4) Grocer Lond.(Kingdon)345/28 : Payed for j Jurebooke with j crusifix gilt, the byndynge stuff With j calender.
- (1454-5) Acc.St.Ewen in BGAS 15148 : In primis, One old boke borded, begynnyng with the Kalendar.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)719/35 : Hoc missale: a myssalle, Hic troporius: a tropery. Hic calendarius: a calendar.
- c1600(c1350) Alex.Maced.(Grv 60)623 : Kairus to þe kalender and kenne yee may.
b
- c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn)2640 : My name es sir Gawayne..Cosyn to þe conquerour..Kydd in his kalander a knyghte of his chambyre.
- (1467) Ordin.Wor.370 : The Kalender of the articles and acts afore specified.
- 1558(a1456) Shirley TContents(2) (Add 29729)4 : Or ye ye leues turne to rede, looke this calender and then proced, for ther is titled compendyously all ye storyes.
c
- c1400 *Chaucer Astr.(Brussels 4869)[introd.] 75b : The thridde partie schal contenen diuerse tables of longitudes & latitudes of sterres fixe..tables of the declinaciouns of the sunne & tables of longitudes of citees..after the Kalenderes of the reuerent clerkes.
- c1475 Court Sap.(Trin-C R.3.21)1964 : Ten figures eke of Augrym gan she neuyn, And kalendres for numeracioun.
3.
A guide, model; a reminder, a warning.
Associated quotations
- (c1426) Audelay Poems (Dc 302)32/614 : Clerkys were chosen to be chast..And be a clene calender, þe leud men on to se.
- a1440 Fasc.Zizan.(BodeMus 86)439 : Ymagys..were ordeyned..to be kalenderys to lewyd men, to represente & bryng to mynde the passyon of oure Lord Jesus Cryst, and martirdoom & good lyvyng of other seyntis.
- c1450(c1386) Chaucer LGW Prol.(1) (Benson-Robinson)542 : Kalender ys shee To any woman that wol lover bee.
- a1500 Lydg.LOL (Adv 19.3.1)p.115 : Lett hem afore be to yow a kalendere: Ysowd, Elyn..ryche Candace..Lye they not gravyn vnder clottis grene?
4.
= calendes; -- also pl.: (a) the first day of a month; (b) a certain day reckoned back from the first of the following month; eightethe ~ of Novembre, October 25, etc.; (c) beginning.
Associated quotations
a
- a1500(?a1450) Treat.Garden.(Trin-C O.9.38)13 : Yn the calenders of Ianuar', Thu sclatt treys both set & rere.
b
- a1450 SLeg.Suppl.Bod.(Bod 779)346/158 : Þe eȝteþe calendre of nouembre, his heste þey dedin.
- a1500 3rd Fran.Rule (Seton)55/15 : Gouen at Reate, the xv Kalender of Septembre, þe secunde yere of oure pontificacion.
c
- c1475(1464) Hardyng Chron.B (Hrl 661)p.118 : Kalenders [Grafton: It chaunged all his..manhede, In kalendes of eschaunge he was impressed].
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: The list of variant spellings in the form section may be incomplete and / or may need revision to accord with standards of later volumes of the MED. Provisional revised form section: Also calendder, calendar, calendre, calundere, kalender(e, kalendar(i, kalander, kalunder; pl. calenders, etc. & kalendres.
Note: In sense 2.(a) add combination and gloss: dominical ~, a liturgical calendar restricted to the Sundays of a given year.--notes per MLL