Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of or relating to a leap year.
- adjective Of or relating to the extra day falling in a leap year.
- noun A leap year.
from The Century Dictionary.
- 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 . - noun A leap-year (which see).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pertaining to leap year.
- noun 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having an extra day (of a leap year).
- noun A leap year; A year having an extra day.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Does that mean that I am semi (or maybe demi) bissextile for having been born halfway between two leap years?
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Eugene Volokh • May 12, 2010 9: 42 pm that I am bissextile, frombirth.
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Does that mean that I am semi or maybe demi bissextile for having been born halfway between two leap years?
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Eugene Volokh • May 12, 2010 9:42 pm that I am bissextile, frombirth.
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About the last gasp for distinctively bissextile drinks was the '70s.
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Oh yes, the official name of February 29th is ‘bissextile day’, the 60th day of Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year.
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Oh yes, the official name of February 29th is ‘bissextile day’, the 60th day of Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year.
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About the last gasp for distinctively bissextile drinks was the '70s.
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The suppression of the bissextile day once every one hundred and thirty-four years in a lunar calendar.
High School Confidential Jeremy Iversen 2006
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Le Livre commode contenant les adresses de la ville de Paris et le tresor des almanachs pour Vannée bissextile 1692.
Savoring The Past Wheaton Barbara Ketcham 1983
allenfarquhar commented on the word bissextile
Pertaining to leap year. In ancient Rome, the sixth day before the first of March would be repeated each leap year, hence: bissextile.
December 3, 2006
coty commented on the word bissextile
A nice post on the topic can be found here:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/new-words/040305-bissextile.htm
March 1, 2008