What Does Ides Mean?

The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month. It is a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. In the months of March, May, July and October it falls on the fifteenth, and it falls on the thirteenth for the rest of the months of the year.

The most notorious of all Ides is the Ides of March which marked the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. Before then the Romans considered Ides as just another day in the middle of the month but in 44 B.C. the assassination of Julius Caesar changed its simple meaning for the Romans.

St. Ides is also the name of a malt liquor and as an acronym IDES stands for either Integrated Data Environments or Internet Demonstration and Evaluation System.