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Ides

Time And Calendar
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A date in the Roman calendar falling near the middle of a month. The Ides of March is especially associated with Julius Caesar's assassination.

Detailed Definition
In the Roman calendar, the Ides fell on the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and on the thirteenth day of other months. Literary tradition has made the Ides of March a powerful sign of warning and political betrayal through Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. A poet may invoke the Ides to give a date ominous force, blending antique civic ritual with ideas of fate, conspiracy, and irreversible historical change.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s “Beware the Ides of March” in Julius Caesar turns the Roman date into a warning of political danger; A poet might write, “On the Ides, even the laurel cast a dagger-shaped shade,” using the date to foreshadow betrayal; Because the Ides fell on the fifteenth of March, May, July, and October, a historical poem can use it to anchor a Roman scene; “The Ides of March” can function as a compressed symbol for fate arriving on a fixed day
Additional Notes
In Roman reckoning, the Ides fell on the 13th in most months and the 15th in March, May, July, and October. Poets may invoke it to suggest omen, betrayal, or political fate.
Other Meanings of “Ides”
Also Known As
Midmonth Roman Midmonth Fifteenth Day Thirteenth Day
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