bissextile

American  

[bahy-seks-til, -tahyl, bih-] / baɪˈsɛks tɪl, -taɪl, bɪ- /

adjective

1. containing or noting the extra day of leap year.

   The years 1980 and 1984 were both bissextile.

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noun

1. leap year.

bissextile British  

/ bɪˈsɛkstaɪl /

adjective

1. (of a month or year) containing the extra day of a leap year

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noun

1. a rare name for leap year

Etymology

Origin of bissextile

1585–95; < Late Latin bi ( s ) sextilis ( annus ) leap year, equivalent to bissext ( us ) bissextus + -ilis -ile

Example Sentences

In ordinary years it contains 28 days; but in bissextile or leap year, by the addition of the intercalary day, it consists of 29 days.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

The bissextile is known to have been used by the Mayas, Tzendals, and Quichés, and it was probably common.

From Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology by Baldwin, John D. (John Denison)

On the other hand, however, to make the calendar more nearly agree with the sun's course, every fourth hundred year is still considered bissextile.

From Amusements in Mathematics by Dudeney, Henry Ernest

The whole acre divided into four denotes the bissextile period of four years.

From The Ruins, or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires and the Law of Nature by Volney, C.-F. (Constantin-François)

The lower classes calculate, purely by the mind without any help from pen or pencil, questions respecting interest; determine whether a given year be bissextile or not, &c. &c.

From The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey—Vol. 1 With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg by Hogg, James