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  1. bissextile love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Of or relating to a leap year.
  2. adj. Of or relating to the extra day falling in a leap year.
  3. n. A leap year.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Containing the bissextus or intercalary day: applied to those years which have 366 days, the extra day being inserted in the month of February. See bissextus. This occurs every fourth year, taken as each year of which the number is divisible by 4 without remainder. Inasmuch, however, as a year of 365¼ days exceeds the true length of a solar astronomical year by 11 minutes and 14 seconds, amounting to an error of a day in 128 years, it was provided in the Gregorian calendar that the intercalary day should be omitted in all centenary years except those which are multiples of 400.
  2. n. A leap-year (which see).

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Having an extra day (of a leap year).
  2. n. A leap year; A year having an extra day.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Leap year; every fourth year, in which a day is added to the month of February on account of the excess of the tropical year (365 d. 5 h. 48 m. 46 s.) above 365 days. But one day added every four years is equivalent to six hours each year, which is 11 m. 14 s. more than the excess of the real year. Hence, it is necessary to suppress the bissextile day at the end of every century which is not divisible by 400, while it is retained at the end of those which are divisible by 400.
  2. adj. Pertaining to leap year.

Etymologies

  1. From Latin bisextilis ("containing an intercalary day"), from bisextus ("intercalary day"), from bis- ("two") + sextus ("sixth"). In leap years there were two sixth days before March in the Roman calendar, thus the succession of days was ... 7 - 6 - 6* - 5 ... (Wiktionary)
  2. Late Latin bissextīlis, containing an intercalary day, from bisextus (diēs), bis sextus (diēs) and Latin bisextum, intercalary day : bis, twice; see bis + sextus, sixth (because the sixth day before the Calends of March on February 24 occurred twice every leap year); see sext. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. leap year
  1. February
  1. intercalary
  1. gregorian year
  1. bissextile
  1. metemptosis
  1. bissextile year

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‘bissextile’ has been looked up 1378 times, loved by 2 people, added to 14 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 19.