What does calendar mean?
A calendar is a chart, table, or system that organizes the days, weeks, and months of a year into an orderly framework for tracking time. In everyday use, the word refers both to physical or digital displays of dates — wall calendars, desk calendars, phone apps — and to a person's or organization's schedule of appointments and events. It can also denote a broader cultural or institutional system of reckoning time, as in the Gregorian calendar used worldwide or traditional lunar and religious calendars that determine festivals and holidays. The word carries no particular connotation beyond practicality and planning, and it appears constantly in phrases like 'mark your calendar' or 'fiscal calendar.' Derived forms include the adjective 'calendrical,' relating to calendars or their structure. Because coordinating human activity depends on shared timekeeping, the calendar is one of the most quietly essential tools in daily life.
A chart or system showing the days, weeks, and months of a year.
"He hung a new calendar above his desk every January."
In legal English, 'to calendar' functions as a verb meaning to record an item on a schedule.
An organized list of a person's or organization's appointments or planned events.
"My calendar is full next week, but I could meet you the following Monday."
Regular plural form; standard in all registers.
"The shop sells handmade calendars featuring local landscapes."
The Roman word 'calare' meant 'to call out' — because priests would announce each new month aloud at its first day.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of calendar
The English word 'calendar' comes from Middle English 'calender', borrowed from Old French 'calendier' or directly from Latin 'kalendarium,' meaning an account book or register, itself derived from 'kalendae' — the calends, the first day of the Roman month, on which debts were due and accounts were settled. The underlying root is the Latin verb 'calare,' meaning to call out or proclaim, since priests publicly announced the start of each new month. The word has been in English use since roughly the thirteenth century.
Related word forms
How calendar is actually used
Common in both formal and informal contexts; as a verb ('to calendar') it is used mainly in legal settings meaning to schedule or record an item for action.
Easily confused with calendar
A colander is a perforated bowl used to drain food, while a calendar tracks dates and months.