KALEND, of January, in Roman antiquity, was a solemn festival consecrated to Juno and Janus; wherein the Romans offered vows and sacrifices to those deities, and exchanged presents among themselves as a token of friendship.
It was only a melancholy day to debtors, who were then obliged to pay their interests, &c. Hence Horace calls it tristes kalendæ; Lib. I. Serm. Sat. 3.