calendar

Table of Contents

Introduction
Measurement of time and types of calendars
- Standard units and cycles
- Time determination by stars, Sun, and Moon
- Complex cycles
Ancient and religious calendar systems
- The Near East and the Middle East
  - Babylonian calendars
  - Other calendars used in the ancient Near East
    - The Assyrians and the Hittites
    - Iran
  - The Egyptian calendar
  - Ancient Greek calendars in relation to the Middle East
    - Earliest sources
    - The year
    - Months, days, seasons
  - The early Roman calendar
  - The Jewish calendar
    - The calendar in Jewish history
    - The structure of the calendar
    - Months and important days
  - The Muslim calendar
- The Far East
  - The Hindu calendar
    - Early history
    - The classical calendar
    - The sacred calendar
    - The eras
  - The Chinese calendar
- The Americas
  - The Mayan calendar
  - The Mexican (Aztec) calendar
  - Peru: the Inca calendar
  - North American Indian time counts
The Western calendar and calendar reforms
- The Julian calendar
- The Gregorian calendar
  - The date of Easter
  - Adoption in various countries
- Calendar reform since the mid-18th century
  - The French republican calendar
  - Soviet calendar reforms
  - Modern schemes for reform

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Kalendarium (“Calendar”) by Regiomontanus

calendar section of Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, depiction of an Inca bookkeeper using a quipu

For Students

calendar summary

calendar

chronology

Written by E.J. Wiesenberg, Nicola Abdo Ziadeh, Colin Alistair RonanSee All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 • Article History

Kalendarium (“Calendar”) by Regiomontanus

See all media

Category: History & Society

Key People:: Ptolemy; Dionysius Exiguus

Related Topics:: French republican calendar; Gregorian calendar; Julian calendar; solar calendar; quarter days

See all related content →

calendar, any system for dividing time over extended periods, such as days, months, or years, and arranging such divisions in a definite order. A calendar is convenient for regulating civil life and religious observances and for historical and scientific purposes. The word is derived from the Latin calendarium, meaning “interest register” or “account book,” itself a derivation from calendae (or kalendae), the first day of the month in the Roman republican calendar, the day on which future market days, feasts, and other occasions were proclaimed. The development of a calendar is vital for the study of chronology, since this is ...(100 of 21777 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.