dominical letter

American  

noun

1. any one of the letters from A to G used in church calendars to mark the Sundays throughout any particular year, serving primarily to aid in determining the date of Easter.

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dominical letter British  

noun

1. Christianity any one of the letters A to G as used to denote Sundays in a given year in order to determine the church calendar

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Etymology

Origin of dominical letter

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dominical letter

Had G, the seventh letter been dominical letter for the year preceding the era, then these remainders would be taken from 7; and 7 would be used until change of style in 1582.

From Our Calendar by George Nichols Packer

In this manner it is easy to find the dominical letter belonging to each of the twenty-eight years of the cycle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various

B is also dominical letter, New Style; for we take the remainder after dividing by 7, from the same number.

From Our Calendar by George Nichols Packer

The letter which coincides with the first Sunday within this period is called the dominical letter, and it serves for the following year.

From The Borghesi Astronomical Clock in the Museum of History and Technology Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper 35, the Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 240 by Silvio A. Bedini

Then 3 - 1 = 2; therefore, B being the second letter, is dominical letter for the year 1250, Old Style.

From Our Calendar by George Nichols Packer